ROCK HILL, SC—A new era for Winthrop softball will begin in July as the 32-year coaching career of Mark Cooke comes to an end June 30.

Cooke spent 29 of his 32 seasons at Winthrop where he helped lead the program to four Big South titles and two NCAA Regional appearances. During his tenure, he consistently put together a competitive team on the field as the Eagles earned over 40 victories in 29 seasons against teams from the Power 5 conferences.

In 1990 Cooke was hired as the head coach for the softball program and the volleyball program. Cooke pulled double-duty until the end of the 1996 volleyball season in which he turned his focus permanently to softball.

His first year as head softball coach he took over a program that was coming off a Big South Conference Tournament Championship and kept the program right on track is it repeated as champs the next two seasons. During his tenure the team went on to win two more conference titles (2007, 2008) and appear in a total of 11 Big South Championship games.

The 2007 season was a historical one from a program and Big South Conference perspective. The Eagles won 50 games that season, a first for Winthrop and the second program to do so in league history. The season was capped off with a NCAA Regional final appearance against #1 Tennessee, which featured All-American Monica Abbot (one of the greatest pitchers in the history of college softball). In 2012, Cooke and the Eagles got revenge as they upset the 9^th-ranked Volunteers 2-1 for his 700^th career victory at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.

Over the course of Cooke's career, the Eagles have produced 91 All-Conference selections, 48 First-Team All-Conference Selections and five All-Freshmen Team selections (started in 2013). There have also been numerous players named to the Big South Conference All-Tournament Team (53), All-Region Teams (11), Big South Tournament MVP (6), Big South Conference Player of the Year (5), Big South Conference Rookie/Freshmen of the Year (4), and Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American (4). In 2007 the Eagles produced their only Division I NFCA All-America selection in the history of the program with Lisa Kingsmore.

There are now five players that played for coach Cooke that have been inducted into the Winthrop Hall of Fame and two of which are in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame. Cooke coached seven players during his career that were named to the Big South Conference All-Decade Teams.

Cooke leaves the Eagles and collegiate softball as the all-time leader in victories in Big South history. He guided the Eagles to 767 victories in his tenure and also has the most conference wins in league history with 217. Despite dropping both games in his final Big South Conference Tournament this past season, Cooke finishes with a winning record in conference tournament play at 53-49. His 53 victories are the most by any coach in league history.