Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University Director of Athletics Joe Reich has announced Sydney Lahners as the new head softball coach at Wingate University. Lahners comes to Wingate after serving as the head coach at Vanguard University since 2022.  

"I am honored and so grateful for the opportunity that Dr. Brown and the administration has given me to lead this program," Lahners says. "Wingate has a strong history of athletic and academic success, I am looking forward to being a part of such a distinguished University and department. The softball program has a long legacy of success, competing at a championship level. I am eager to continue building on that success."

"We are excited to welcome Coach Lahners to the Wingate Athletic department!" Reich says. "We believe Sydney is a great fit for our softball program and we look forward to her leading our program and mentoring our softball student-athletes."

Lahners served as the assistant coach at Vanguard University from 2020 through 2022, then took over as the head coach in August of 2022. As the head coach, Lahners led Vanguard to back-to-back conference tournament titles in 2023 and 2024. The team piled up 48 victories in the 2024 season and won 91 games in her three seasons from 2023 through 2025. Vanguard made a pair of tournament runs, finishing one game away from a trip to the World Series in 2024.

As a student-athlete, Lahners played at the University of the Pacific, where she earned All-West Coast Conference accolades three straight years (2016, 2017 and 2018). She finished in the top 10 in program history in homers, batting average, walks, RBI and on-base percentage. Lahners led the team in homers, RBI and batting average during her senior season.

Lahners earned her undergraduate degree from the University of the Pacific in 2018, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Adminstration and Human Resources and Management. She then earned her Master's degree from Fresno State in May of 2020 in Sports Administration. Lahners began her coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Fresno State in 2018.

Lahners comes to a Wingate softball program that has won each of the last three regular season SAC titles. The Bulldogs have won 136 games during that span, while going 58-14 in league play. The 'Dogs have made four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, hosting NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history in 2023, when Wingate advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in school history.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences, the Levine College of Health Sciences, the Byrum School of Business, the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 30 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 17 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.