St. Mary's (Ind.) has hired Ryan Crabbe as the head coach of the Belles soccer program. Crabbe is the first full-time soccer coach at Saint Mary's.
Crabbe takes over the program from Caryn MacKenzie who served as the head coach the past four seasons, compiling a 33-26-9 record.
"We are very excited to hire Ryan as our full-time soccer coach," athletics director Lynn Kachmarik said. "His knowledge, energy and passion for soccer are great characteristics that will help Ryan as he looks to build our program into a competitive NCAA Division III team."
Crabbe had been an assistant coach at Columbus State since 2005. During his three years with the Cougars he helped guide them to consecutive Peach Belt tournament championships in 2006 and 2007. In addition to their postseason success, Columbus State won the league's regular season title during all three seasons he served on coach Jay Entlich's staff.
Columbus State qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament in 2006 and 2007. They earned a berth into the Elite 8 in 2007 and ended the season ranked fifth in the country. During his tenure the Cougars went a combined 53-14-3 as he coached nine different players who earned All Conference honors.
"I am eager and excited to take over the soccer program at Saint Mary's College and hope that I can have an impact on the success of our student-athletes both academically and athletically," Crabbe said. "Through diligent recruiting and promoting the excellent opportunities which Saint Mary's can offer a young student-athlete, I plan to build the program into a consistent contender in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and one that is competitive at the national level."
Crabbe earned his bachelor's degree at Georgia State in film and video where he graduated magna cum laude in 2004. He earned his masters from Columbus State in 2007. He was a four-year collegiate soccer player at Augusta State from 1993-1996.
The Belles are slated to return 16 players next season after finishing in fifth place in the MIAA last season, going 7-5-5 overall.