ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop Athletic Director Tom Hickman has announced that John Sung has been chosen as the first women's lacrosse coach in school history as the school will begin competition in the spring of 2013. Sung is considered a pioneer in women's lacrosse after beginning a successful program at Adrian College in Michigan four years ago.
Sung will begin his duties at Winthrop on June 6. He compiled a four-year record of 46-19 as head coach at Adrian and led the Bulldogs to a 16-5 record and a first round appearance in the NCAA Div. III Championship this past season. The 2011 team put together a winning streak of 15 games before losing in the NCAA tournament.
In addition to his accomplishments at Adrian College, the Troy, Michigan native also serves as head coach of the Haudenosaunee Nation, a mixture of Native American Nations. In 2009, he led the Iroquois National Team to the Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup in Prague, Czech Republic where it finished 11th out of 16 teams. Sung was the only NCAA Division III head coach to be asked to serve as head coach and his appointment as head coach has been extended until the 2013 FIL World Cup.
“We are pleased to have John Sung join our athletic program,” said Hickman. “John has done an excellent job and has tremendous success at Adrian College where he started that program, and we believe he can have that same success here at Winthrop as we begin a new program.” Hickman says Sung will spend the 2011-12 academic year recruiting student-athletes for the program and will begin practice in the fall of 2012 in preparation for the 2013 inaugural season.
“I am excited about the opportunity to continue my coaching career at this highly respected academic and athletic institution on the Division I level,” says Sung. “I am excited about coming to the Rock Hill community and I view Winthrop University as a long term fit. I have great respect for the athletic and academic traditions of Winthrop and I believe that I have the ability to bring Winthrop to a championship caliber program year after year.”
Sung guided the Bulldogs through their inaugural season in 2008 as the only varsity program in the state of Michigan. The Bulldogs opened the season with four straight victories. His first team finished the season with a 6-7 overall record, but managed a very impressive 4-1 record at home.
Since that season, Sung's teams had three straight winning years as it went 10-4 in 2009, 14-3 in 2010, and 16-5 in 2011. His college head coach winning percentage now stands at .708. His teams have a reputation for their ability to score goals. His 2009 team ranked 5th in the NCAA for scoring offense and set a NCAA record for points in a game with 53. The 2010 team finished the year ranked 2nd in the nation in scoring and 1st in scoring margin and the 2011 squad ranked 1st in scoring.
Before taking over the Adrian coaching position, Sung spent five years as the assistant women's varsity club lacrosse coach at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines accumulated a 93-22 record while he was the assistant coach. Also while at Michigan, Sung was in charge of recruiting for the team and had one goalie tabbed as the pre-season player of the year.
A longtime trainer of goalies, Sung has held various coaching positions with Birmingham Seaholm High School and the Detroit Lacrosse Club. He has been the assistant director of the Great Lakes Women's Lacrosse Camp since 1997.
As a player, Sung was a two-year team captain and served as the starting goalkeeper of the Oakland University lacrosse team in 1997 and 1998. He was also a member of two International Cup U-16 championship teams in 1993 and 1994. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Oakland University in 2007.
