GLEN PAYNE Head Coach 18th Season Entering his 18th year as head coach, Staten Island native Glen Payne has developed the Wagner College softball into a model program and a perennial power in the Northeast Conference. Under his direction, Seahawk student-athletes compete at the highest level of achievement academically and athletically. In April, 2008, the Wagner College softball team was recognized by the NCAA for its exceptional graduation and academic performance record after ranking in the top 10 percent of all softball teams in the nation in NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. The Seahawks were among a group of 29 softball programs in this elite category. In addition to running a disciplined, academic-oriented program, Payne knows a thing or two about winning softball games. In 2006, Payne’s team set the school record in single-season wins with 35. With hitting the 300 win mark last season, Payne is the winningest coach in Wagner softball history and has won 406 games in his overall head coaching career. He has guided the Seahawks to NEC Tournament appearances in five of the last eight seasons. In addition, he led the Seahawks to appearances in the NEC Championship Game in 2005 and 2007. Payne has continuously employed a widespread geographical approach to recruiting, attracting talent from across the country, ranging from California, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Indiana in addition to the Northeast Region. The program’s recruiting efforts have produced a two-time NEC Player of the Year (Andrea Lazzari-2008, 2009), two NEC Rookie of the Year Award winners, both from Wooster High School in Reno, Nevada (Katie Stevens-2005, Andrea Lazzari-2006), 14 First Team All-NEC and 19 Second Team All-NEC nominees, Five NEC All-Tournament Team awardees (Andrea Lazzari (’06,07)), Ami Iwicki (’07), Morgan Miller (’07) and Kate Eshelman (’07)), Two NFCA AllRegion first Team (Christy Sykora (’05), Andrea Lazzari (’09)) and one second team (Andrea Lazzari (’08)), Two NEC Scholar Athletes of the Year (Joy Gallagher (’06) and Katie Stevens (’07)), one NCAA Statistical Champion (Victoria Batistelli (’07)), one Con Edison Student Athlete of the Year award (Andrea Lazzari (’09)), one ESPN the Magazine / College Sports Information Directors 1 of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American District First Team (Kate Eshelman (‘10)) along with coached numerous Academic All-Americans.
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