Troyan Adds Dani Gonzales To Softball Coaching Staff
8/17/2023 2:26:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan has announced the addition of Dani Gonzales to the Mountain Hawks' coaching staff. Gonzales will serve as Lehigh's pitching coach while playing a prominent role in student-athlete recruitment.
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"Dani's hiring is incredibly exciting," Troyan said. "Dani is all about relationships, she is all about competing, and she is all about developing difference makers who will make their mark not just as softball student-athletes at Lehigh, but as leaders in their post-Lehigh lives. We are thrilled."
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Gonzales spent the last 11 seasons at the University of Pennsylvania. She was promoted to Associate Head Coach in the fall of 2021 and led the Quakers as Interim Head Coach during the 2023 season.
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"I am ecstatic to be a Mountain Hawk," Gonzales said. "Coach Troyan has established the Lehigh softball program with a championship mindset, high working standards and a family culture. Also, the athletic department's culture, support and growth mindset of its coaches makes this an environment that I am excited to be a part of."
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In her time at Penn, Gonzales mentored 48 student-athletes that earned All-Ivy honors, as well as three Ivy League Rookies of the Year and one Player of the Year. The Quakers won an Ivy League title and made an NCAA Regional appearance in Gonzales' first season on staff in 2013.
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A native of Litchfield Park, Arizona, Gonzales has spent the last 18 years of her life in the Philadelphia area. Prior to her time at Penn, Gonzales spent seven years at Saint Joseph's, four as a student-athlete and then three as an assistant coach. In her three years on the Hawks' staff, Saint Joseph's made a pair of Atlantic-10 tournaments and had its first 30-win season in more than a decade.
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Gonzales was a mainstay in the pitcher's circle for Saint Joseph's from 2005-09. A team captain as a senior, Gonzales was a two-time All-Atlantic-10 performer and was Saint Joseph's' team MVP following the 2007 season. A three-time A-10 Athlete of the Week during her time on Hawk Hill, Gonzales was also named to the A-10 All-Tournament Team in 2009.
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"I am looking forward to working hard, competing and being part of the developmental success of our student-athletes on and off the field, and being on the journey towards competing for the Patriot League Championship," Gonzales said.
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Gonzales graduated from Saint Joseph's in 2009 with a degree in sports and entertainment marketing, and added a master's in business administration with a concentration in management and marketing in 2012.
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"Dani's hiring is incredibly exciting," Troyan said. "Dani is all about relationships, she is all about competing, and she is all about developing difference makers who will make their mark not just as softball student-athletes at Lehigh, but as leaders in their post-Lehigh lives. We are thrilled."
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Gonzales spent the last 11 seasons at the University of Pennsylvania. She was promoted to Associate Head Coach in the fall of 2021 and led the Quakers as Interim Head Coach during the 2023 season.
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"I am ecstatic to be a Mountain Hawk," Gonzales said. "Coach Troyan has established the Lehigh softball program with a championship mindset, high working standards and a family culture. Also, the athletic department's culture, support and growth mindset of its coaches makes this an environment that I am excited to be a part of."
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In her time at Penn, Gonzales mentored 48 student-athletes that earned All-Ivy honors, as well as three Ivy League Rookies of the Year and one Player of the Year. The Quakers won an Ivy League title and made an NCAA Regional appearance in Gonzales' first season on staff in 2013.
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A native of Litchfield Park, Arizona, Gonzales has spent the last 18 years of her life in the Philadelphia area. Prior to her time at Penn, Gonzales spent seven years at Saint Joseph's, four as a student-athlete and then three as an assistant coach. In her three years on the Hawks' staff, Saint Joseph's made a pair of Atlantic-10 tournaments and had its first 30-win season in more than a decade.
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Gonzales was a mainstay in the pitcher's circle for Saint Joseph's from 2005-09. A team captain as a senior, Gonzales was a two-time All-Atlantic-10 performer and was Saint Joseph's' team MVP following the 2007 season. A three-time A-10 Athlete of the Week during her time on Hawk Hill, Gonzales was also named to the A-10 All-Tournament Team in 2009.
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"I am looking forward to working hard, competing and being part of the developmental success of our student-athletes on and off the field, and being on the journey towards competing for the Patriot League Championship," Gonzales said.
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Gonzales graduated from Saint Joseph's in 2009 with a degree in sports and entertainment marketing, and added a master's in business administration with a concentration in management and marketing in 2012.
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