Diana Kuser

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg University has hired Diana Kuser as its new field hockey head coach, replacing Kiki Chesterton, who resigned in December.

Most recently, Kuser was an assistant coach in 2004 at Kenyon College, a North Coast Athletic Conference member like Wittenberg. She helped the Ladies to a second-place finish in the NCAC regular season standings and a 14-5 overall record, tying the school record for wins in a season. Her new team, three-time regular season and tournament champion Wittenberg, defeated her old team, Kenyon, in the 2004 NCAC Tournament title game.

Originally from Boyertown, Pa., Kuser earned a degree in English from The Ohio State University in 2002. She was a four-time Great Lakes Regional All-American, a three-time All-Big Ten selection and won the respect of her peers as a team captain two straight years.

Interestingly, Kuser earned her all-region designations at three different positions during her four years as a Buckeye. She also helped lead Ohio State to the program's first Big Ten regular season and tournament championships in 2001 and its second appearance ever in the NCAA Division I Tournament. The Buckeyes were ranked in the top five throughout the 2001 season before falling in the national tourney to perennial powerhouse Virginia.

Kuser's first coaching experience came at Kenyon in the 2002-03 school year. The next year she served as head field hockey coach at Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Okla., where she also taught physical education.

At Ohio State as a player and at Kenyon as an assistant coach, Kuser helped turn programs around and put them on a winning track. At Wittenberg in her first career head coaching assignment, Kuser has a different task - to extend a long history of success, including a run of 23 straight non-losing seasons and 14 straight winning campaigns. The Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament seven times since 1993, and despite the loss of an accomplished five-person senior class, they are expected to be at or near the top of the NCAC again in 2005.

"I'm excited to continue the tradition and success of Wittenberg's field hockey program," Kuser said. "I look forward to taking the program another step forward, both regionally and nationally."

Kuser, a former high school lacrosse standout who will also serve as an assistant coach with the Wittenberg women's lacrosse program, resides in Columbus.