Lisa Pursley Ebeling Crowned Head Coach of University of Northern Colorado Women’s Swim & Dive

01-11-14 MWSD vs Kentucky & Arkansas Dennis Pursley Photo by John Michael Simpson 01-11-14 MWSD vs Kentucky & Arkansas Dennis Pursley Photo by John Michael Simpson

Photo Courtesy: John Michael Simpson

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado has named Lisa Pursley Ebeling the new head coach of the women’s swimming and diving program.

Ebeling arrives at UNC after four years as the assistant at the University of Alabama where she helped coach both programs and was the recruiting coordinator for the women’s team.

“We are very pleased to have Coach Ebeling joining our department,” said Director of Athletics Darren Dunn. “She brings a wealth of swimming knowledge to our team, especially in the state of Colorado with her familiarity of the high schools and club programs. I am excited to have someone with her experience and passion for the sport join the Bear family, along with her husband, Eric and daughter, Elizabeth.”

In her first season with the Crimson Tide, the women’s team enjoyed a standout season in the classroom. After turning in the highest team grade point average in the nation during the fall of 2013 the women’s team finished third during the spring semester with a 3.65.

2014-15 was just as impressive at Alabama. Ebeling helped guide a record-shattering season that saw the men’s and women’s teams break a combined 21 school records, including 19 of 36 swimming records. Both the men and the women made significant moves up the rankings at both the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championships.

The 2015-16 season marked another big step forward for the Crimson Tide program on the national stage. With their sixth place finish in 2016 and 10th place finish in 2015, Alabama’s men earned their first back-to-back top-10 NCAA finishes since 1985 and 1986. The women’s team took 28th at the 2016 NCAA Championships, Alabama’s best finish since 2005. They also had 38 student-athletes named NCAA All-Americans.

“I am honored and excited about the opportunity to return home and lead the forward development of the swimming and diving program at UNC,” Ebeling stated. “I am very impressed with the support from the administration and with their vision for the team and the entire athletic department. This program has an immense amount of potential and I believe it is an exciting time to be a Bear!”

The Colorado Springs, Colorado native came to Tuscaloosa after stints as an assistant coach at the University of Utah and Rutgers University. She was part of the coaching staff in the Utes inaugural season as part of the Pac-12 Conference in 2011-12, during which Utah broke 15 school records.

A three-time All-American at Arizona, Ebeling helped the Wildcats win the 2006 Pac-10 championship. She also earned Academic All-America honors during her Wildcat career and was honored with the Mary Roby Academic Achievement Award.

She graduated from Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2007 and coached at the Phoenix Swim Club while pursuing her master’s degree at Arizona State.

What They’re Saying About Coach Ebeling:

“She will be an absolute determined coach to bring that program along. I know her background and her family extremely well – She is a competitor and will do a great job. She’ll be great at recruiting here in the state of Colorado. I think Northern Colorado hit it out of the park with this hire.” – Frank Busch, USA Swimming National Team Director

“Coach Lisa has played an integral role in our program development during the past four years and we are certainly going to miss her. At the same time, we are happy for Lisa because this is the perfect career move for her.” – Dennis Pursley Father of Lisa and Alabama Swimming and Diving Head Coach

Press release courtesy of University of Northern Colorado Athletics

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