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Overall Record: 807-276-1 (.744) in 16 seasons
Record at Georgia: 598-212 (.738) in 12 seasons
SEC Record at Georgia: 218-111 (.560)
Head coach Lu Harris-Champer has been at the helm of the Georgia program for 12 seasons and has led the Bulldogs to 11-straight NCAA Division I Championship appearances. Making the Bulldogs a national contender year-in and year-out, Harris-Champer directed Georgia to back-to-back final four showings at the Women's College World Series in 2009 and 2010.
Prior to Harris-Champer's arrival in Athens, the Georgia softball program produced just a 115-123 record with no Southeastern Conference championships or NCAA appearances. Under the direction of Harris-Champer, the Bulldog softball team has compiled a 598-212 overall record with 11-straight NCAA tournament appearances and two SEC championships, establishing Georgia as one of the elite programs in the country.
The 2012 season marked the 11th time that Harris-Champer has led a Bulldog softball squad to the NCAA postseason and the sixth time that Georgia advanced to a NCAA Super Regional. With a record of 45-17 that included a 17-11 mark in the SEC, the 2012 squad spent the majority of the season ranked among the top-15 team in the nation and earned 13 wins over team ranked in the top-25. In its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Georgia was awarded the 10th overall national seed. The Bulldogs swept the NCAA Athens Regional field, marking the sixth time that the team has claimed a regional title and advanced to the Knoxville Super Regional. Harris-Champer coached Kristyn Sandberg to First Team All-SEC honors, while Erin Arevalo was named to the All-SEC second team and Paige Wilson earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team. In addition to conference honors, Sandberg and Arevalo earned All-American status, with Sandberg appearing on the second team and Arevalo earning a spot on the third team.
Harris-Champer's 2011 team posted a 51-14 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Super Regional round of play. In SEC play, the Bulldogs went 17-9 and finished third in the Eastern Division and also made a run in the SEC Tournament advancing to the championship game. Georgia spent four weeks during the 2011 season ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and one week atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, which marked the first No. 1 rankings in school history. During the course of the season, Harris-Champer coached her 1,000th game and earned her 750th overall win at the collegiate level. The Bulldogs also set several school records in 2011 including 434 runs, 390 RBI, 238 walks and an on-base percentage of .418, and once again under Harris-Champer's lead three Bulldogs were named All-Americans as Alisa Goler and Megan Wiggins were selected to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America Second Team while Goler and Taylor Schlopy were named Lowe's Senior CLASS All-Americans. Additionally, Goler was a Top 25 Finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award.
In 2010, Harris-Champer's Georgia squad posted a 50-13 overall record advancing to the WCWS where they went 2-2 and reached the final four. In SEC play, the Bulldogs went 18-8 and finished second in the Eastern Division. In the final rankings of the 2010 season, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) final poll and No. 4 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball final poll. The No. 3 ranking is the program's highest-ever ranking. In the UGA record books, several records fell as the Bulldogs established new single-season school records for home runs (99), runs (422), doubles (102), RBI (380), total bases (944), walks (231), slugging percentage (.578) and on-base percentage (.413). The Bulldogs also set multiple single inning and single game records in 2010. Against Bowling Green on Feb. 19, Georgia's biggest inning school history came in the third with 13 runs on 11 hits in 17 plate appearances, all school record. For single-game records, Georgia established a new doubles record with six against Radford while tying record for home runs in a game with five against UCF and stolen bases in a game with nine vs. Minnesota. Under Harris-Champer's guidance, Goler and Schlopy earned second-team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America honors while Schlopy also garnered ESPN.com All-America recognition and was named a top 25 finalist for the 2010 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award.
In 2009, Harris-Champer's Bulldogs were tabbed the Easton Sports, Inc., Team of the Year after going 47-12 and advancing to their first-ever Women's College World Series appearance, where they went 3-2 and were one of the final four teams standings. The Bulldogs were the nation's youngest team in 2009 with 90-percent underclassman but still finished the year with NCAA statistics rankings of first in fielding percentage (.981), second in slugging percentage (.574), fourth in home runs per game (1.44), sixth in scoring (6.32 runs per game) and 10th in batting average (.319). In SEC play, the Bulldogs went 18-7 to finish second in the Eastern Division and third overall, and they set a new league record for team slugging percentage and would have set a new home run record with 85 long balls had it not been for Florida's 86 home runs in 2009. Georgia also tied for the league lead in triples with 17 and its national-leading fielding percentage was the third-best in SEC history. Additionally, several team records were broken in 2009 as the Bulldogs established new single-season records for home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and fielding percentage, and they tied the school record for sacrifice flies (23). In both the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) final poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball final poll, the Bulldogs ranked fourth behind national champion Washington, national runner-up Florida and Alabama. The ranking of fourth is the highest-ever for Georgia passing the program's previous best of fifth during middle of the 2004 season. Goler and Schlopy were named first-team All-Americans. Goler was also a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year top 10 finalist, and Schlopy was chosen to the USA Softball Japan Cup Team and helped the Americans win Gold.
In 2008, the Georgia softball program finished with an overall record of 46-24, an SEC mark of 14-14 (3rd Eastern Division) and advanced to just its second-ever NCAA Super Regional to exceed expectations and display a promising future. With an 18-player roster consisting of fifty percent freshmen and 12 underclassmen, the prospect of what to expect from the onset of the season was uncertain. Regardless of what anyone's outlook was for youthful squad, it's clear that the Bulldogs went well beyond those expectations as they recorded Georgia's seventh-straight season with 46 wins and earned the program's seventh-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs finished ranked No. 17 by USA Today/NFCA and No. 18 by ESPN.com/USA Softball. Harris-Champer recorded and surpassed 600 collegiate career coaching victories in 2008 as well as achieving and surpassing 400 wins at Georgia in her eight seasons with the team.
The Bulldogs concluded their 2007 campaign with an appearance in the championship game of the NCAA Lincoln Regional. Georgia's 2007 season got off to a relatively fast start after compiling a 22-8 record before SEC play began. The Bulldogs then went on to post a 46-28 overall record and a 13-15 mark in conference action. Georgia won seven of its last eight SEC games propelling the team to a school-record sixth-consecutive postseason appearance. Kellie Middleton became a two-time All-American after earning Second Team honors from Easton, which marked the sixth-consecutive year in which a Bulldog earned All-America honors.
Harris-Champer and the Bulldogs captured their third Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title en route to posting its fifth consecutive season of 54 or more wins in 2006. Overall, UGA tallied a 54-15 overall record and earned a berth in the NCAA Regionals. Harris-Champer secured her 500th career win on April 2 with a victory over Ole Miss. Offensively, the Bulldogs concluded the season with the seventh-highest team batting average (.318) in the nation. Georgia also set a school record after three student-athletes (Kellie Middleton, Jessica Doucette and Megan McAllister) earned All-America distinctions in 2006.
The 2005 season proved to be a record-setting campaign for the Bulldogs as they earned their second conference championship in three years while appearing in the championship game of an NCAA Super Regional. Under the direction of Harris-Champer, Georgia posted a 26-4 record in Southeastern Conference play, tying the second-best mark in conference history. Michelle Green and Kim Wendland were named Louisville Slugger/NFCA and Easton All-Americans at the conclusion of the 2005 season. Harris-Champer tallied her second SEC Coach of the Year honor as well.
The Bulldogs concluded the 2004 season with an appearance in the championship game of a NCAA Regional. Georgia earned series wins over LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State in conference play and earned a berth in the championship game of the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs finished the season in the top-20 in several national statistics, including a third-place finish in team batting average (.329), six-place ranking in fielding percentage (.974) and a seventh-place finish in runs per game (5.72).
In 2003, the Bulldogs captured the school's first series wins over the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide and capped off the SEC regular season with a 12-4 win over Alabama, clinching the program's first SEC crown. Georgia also earned its second consecutive berth in the NCAA Regionals, capturing two wins at the tournament. At the conclusion of the 2003 season the Bulldogs led the SEC in 18 categories and were second in five more. Georgia tied two NCAA records, four SEC records and established 35 new Georgia records.
Harris-Champer took Georgia to its first-ever berth in the NCAA Softball Tournament in 2002. The 59 wins ranked as the second-best in the nation in 2002. Harris and the Bulldogs started their season with a 24-game winning streak. By the end of the regular season, Georgia had finished second in both the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division and the Conference Tournament. Nicole Barber and Kim Wendland became Georgia's first two All-Americans in softball and were also named First Team All-SEC. Barber became the NCAA record holder for consecutive steals with 73.
In 2001, Harris-Champer brought a run-and-gun style of play to Athens and helped Georgia to a 33-win season while setting several team records along the way. Harris-Champer made her first season count against Georgia's biggest rivals, sweeping Georgia Tech and Florida, and taking two of three from Tennessee.
Harris-Champer came to Athens after leading Southern Mississippi to back-to-back appearances in the Women's College World Series in 1999 and 2000.
The success Harris-Champer enjoyed in Hattiesburg and in her 11 seasons as head coach of the Bulldogs continues her excellent record as a player, collegiate coach and professional coach. Harris-Champer was named head coach at Southern Miss in January 1998, and made history the following spring. The Lady Eagles, in their first season of competition after a seven-year layoff, compiled a 52-9 record and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the nation and reached the Women's College World Series.
Harris-Champer was named 1999 South Region Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the successful World Series run. Southern Miss completed the 2000 season with a 63-13 record and number four national ranking, winning the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles, the NCAA Regional title, and advancing to the WCWS semifinals. In addition, USM pitcher Courtney Blades won the 2000 Honda Broderick Award as the nation's top player.
In 1997, Harris-Champer served as head coach of the Orlando Wahoos of the Women's Pro Fastpitch League. She led Orlando to a 60-13 record and earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding her team to regular-season and tournament titles.
Harris-Champer was head coach at Nicholls State in 1996 and 1997, leading the school to impressive records of 46-19 and 48-23, respectively, and a pair of NCAA Regional berths. Upon being named head coach at Nicholls in August of 1995, Harris-Champer inherited a team with only seven players on its roster. With a team comprised primarily of inexperienced players and walk-ons, she led Nicholls to the Southland Conference regular-season and tournament championships as well as the finals of the NCAA Regional. Harris was tabbed 1996 Southland Conference and South Region Coach of the Year and finished third in National Coach of the Year balloting.
Prior to her stint at Nicholls, Harris-Champer spent five years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Western Illinois. During that span, the Westerwinds were 156-98, won the 1992 Gateway Conference tournament, the 1993 Mid-Continent Conference regular season and tournament crowns and the 1996 Mid-Continent Conference West Division title.
A native of San Diego, Calif., Harris-Champer played three seasons at Western Illinois after transferring from Mesa (Calif.) Community College. She is married to assistant Bulldog swim coach Jerry Champer.
Lu and Jerry have three children: Twins Jenna & Emma, born Aug. 2, 2004; and Mya, born May 23, 2006.
Education:
Bachelor of Science degree (1989) and Master's in Sports Administration from Western Illinois
Head Coaching Experience:
Nicholls State (1996-97)
WPSL's Orlando Wahoos (1997)
Southern Miss (1999-00)
Georgia (2001- Present)
Assistant Coaching Experience:
Western Illinois (1991-95)
Harris-Champer Year-by-Year
1996 Nicholls State 46-19-1
NCAA Regional Finalist
1997 Nicholls State 48-23
NCAA Regionals
1997 WPSL Orlando Wahoos 60-13
League Champs
1999 Southern Miss 52-9
NCAA Women's College World Series
2000 Southern Miss 63-13
NCAA Women's College World Series
2001 Georgia 33-26
Won 12 of last 14 games
2002 Georgia 59-17
Most wins school history
Georgia's 1st NCAA Tournament Berth
2003 Georgia 57-14
Georgia's 1st SEC Championship
NCAA Tournament Berth
2004 Georgia 55-17
NCAA Regional Host
NCAA Regional Runner-Up
2005 Georgia 55-15
Claimed Program's 2nd SEC Title
NCAA Super Regional Runner-Up
2006 Georgia 54-15
SEC Eastern Division Champions
NCAA Regional Runner-Up
2007 Georgia 46-28
NCAA Regional Runner-Up
2008 Georgia 46-24
NCAA Super Regional Runner-Up
2009 Georgia 47-12
NCAA Women's College World Series
2010 Georgia 50-13
NCAA Women's College World Series
2011 Georgia 51-14
NCAA Super Regional Runner-Up
2012 Georgia 45-17
NCAA Super Regional Runner-Up
