Gardner-Webb University Athletics

Tom Cole concluded his 20th year in charge of the Runnin' Bulldogs with over 400 wins at Gardner-Webb and more than 500 for his career. 

His 400th win in charge of the 'Dogs came against North Carolina Central on March 20, 2019 and was a 15-4 win in the second game of a doubleheader. In 2018, he won his 500th career game with a 17-5 win also against NC Central. 

Other milestone career wins for Cole include win No. 400 (May 10, 2012 - a 4-2 win vs. Campbell) and win No. 300 (a 6-0 romp over Presbyterian on March 18, 2008).

The 2019 season saw the 'Dogs record 30 wins for the first time since the 2007 season when they went 35-27 overall as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Autumn Owen became the second Runnin' Bulldog in as many years to be named the Big South Conference Freshman of the Year. In addition to that yearly honor, Owen was a First-Team and All-Freshman squad member and earned Freshman of the Week honors four times. The freshman catcher led the Runnin' Bulldogs with a .384 batting average and 13 home runs. Andria Booth (First-Team All-Big South Outfielder), Brooke Perry (Second-Team Pitcher), Jenna Wacaster (Honorable Mention) and Reah Barger (All-Freshman) also received accolades from the league office.

Since Gardner-Webb officially joined a conference in 2002-03, Coach Cole has mentored over 30 All-Conference players, including several All-Freshman Team selections. In 2018, he coached the Big South Player and Freshman of the Year, Katie Prebble, who was also named an NFCA All-American.

The 'Dogs made the Big South tournament as the No. 5 seed in 2018 in large part thanks to the play of junior college transfer Andria Booth. The speedy outfielder led the nation with 94 hits and also made waves nationally with a .477 batting average, which placed her third in the country. Additional All-Conference selections following the 2018 campaign included Second-Team member Kaylee Wacaster and All-Freshman honoree Katie Stettler. 

For the past two seasons, Cole has had a player named a finalist for the NFCA/Shutt Sports Freshman of the Year award. Katie Prebble made the list in 2018, while Owen represented the 'Dogs in 2019. 

Since the Runnin’ Bulldogs joined the Big South in 2009, Coach Cole has had at least two players or more named to the Big South All-Conference Teams in each season. Most recently, Brooke Perry, an education major, was Gardner-Webb's representative. 

Cole has also seen five players - Autumn Owen (2019), Katie Prebble (2018), Samantha Meenaghan (2012), Amanda Gomes (2012) and Christa Fullwood (2010) named to the NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Teams.

At the end of the 2013 campaign, Meenaghan was ranked in the top-30 in the nation in hitting with her .427 batting average on the season, while Kellie Beres was second in the nation among all NCAA Division I softball programs with an average of 0.41 sacrifice bunts per game. In 2011, Meenaghan was honored as the Big South Freshman of the Year.

In 2010, Fullwood was also named as a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Finalist, a first in GWU’s history. The previous season, Meenaghan made waves nationally, as at the conclusion of the season, she was ranked seventh in the nation in batting average with her average of .460 on the year, ranked 23rd in the country in on-base percentage at .519 and 48th nationally in slugging percentage at .719. 

Cole also coached three NCAA Division I All-Independent selections, two National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) All-Americans and five NCCAA All-Region honors during his stint at GWU.

He has had 12 players receive postseason conference All-Tournament honors and has had a student-athlete tabbed as either the Conference Player of the Week or the Conference Pitcher of the Week on more than 25 different occasions in the Atlantic Sun and the Big South since the 2003 season.

In 2007, Melody Harrell finished the season ranked ninth in the NCAA with 1.09 RBIs per game after amassing 51 in just 47 games, while Abbie Looper, after blasting one final triple in her career in the second round of the A-Sun Tournament, ended her season 14th nationally in triples per game (0.10).

Cole's 2007 team finished as the Atlantic Sun Runner-Ups after sweeping through the Atlantic Sun Championship Tournament to reach the Championship game. His 2007 squad also posted a 23.5 game improvement in the wins and losses category, which ranked as the eight-best turnaround in all of Division I history,

The 2004 Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year has recorded eight 20-plus win seasons during his time at GWU, including a program best 36 wins in 2002, 35 wins in 2007 and 30 wins in 2018.

Cole also took his 2002 team to the National Christian College Athletics Association Tournament Championship game, as the Runnin’ Bulldogs took second-place overall. For his efforts, Cole was named the NCAA Division I Independent Coach of the Year in 2002.

Cole came to Gardner-Webb in 2000-01 and produced immediate results, overseeing GWU’s transition to the NCAA Division I level and directing the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a school-record 36 wins in just his second year in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Off the field, Cole's teams have been extremely successful, as on three separate occasions, he has had the program rated in the top-20 academically by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), including the 2008 team which finished with the No. 2 grade point average (3.45) in the country among all NCAA Division I softball programs, the 2007 squad which ranked fourth nationally (3.493) and the 2006 squad (3.430) which ranked seventh in the nation.

While several of his GWU teams have been tabbed as NFCA All-Academic Teams since his arrival at Gardner-Webb, he has had three players earn CoSida/ESPN The Magazine All-Academic All-District honors in Joanna Ward (2007), Jessi Williams (2006) and Rachael Riopel (2004). Riopel, who received CoSida/ESPN The Magazine All-Academic American Third-Team recognition in both 2004 and 2005. Riopel was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District II Second-Team in 2003, while Stephanie Shrum earned a spot on the Verizon Academic All-District II First-Team.

Cole has also had two players in Savannah Burns and Jane Savage each receive the highest academic honor for a softball player in the Big South Conference, as each was named as the Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Burns received the award in 2013, following Savage who earned the award in 2012. Savage was also one of only four recipients of the Big South Conference’s George A. Christenberry Award in 2012, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average among all the student-athletes in the Big South.

From the time when Gardner-Webb joined the Big South in 2008-09 until now, Cole has had a player earn a spot on the All-Academic team each season, and more than 70 student-athletes named to the Big South Presidential Honor Roll.

Prior to the 2009 season, GWU had 67 players named to the Atlantic Sun All-Academic Teams from 2003-08.

He has had nearly 100 players earn NFCA Scholar-Athlete recognition during his time at GWU, while Carla Poskas won the 2002 NCCAA Scholar-Athlete Award in 2002 and Beverly Proffitt was the President’s Senior Athletic Achievement Award winner in 2001. 

Coach Cole’s 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2011 and 2010 Teams were awarded with the Big South Conference Team Sportsmanship Awards for softball. The award was not voted on for the 2018 season.

In the summer of 2007, Cole took over the reigns of the Michigan Ice professional softball team for the final three series' of the season. While with the Ice, he was able to coach his former student-athlete, and current assistant coach, Lani Shaffer Ries, who was playing her second season with the team.

Prior to coming to GWU, Cole was the head coach at NCAA Division III Elmhurst (Ill.) College. There, the Jamison, Pa., native inherited a program that had to forfeit the last two games of its previous season due to a lack of players. Cole wasted little time in turning around the struggling program and during his five seasons there, became the winningest coach in the history of the program. In 1997, Cole was named the CCIW Coach of the Year and the NFCA Division III Midwest Regional Co-Coach of the Year.

Before his tenure as Elmhurst, Cole spent two years as an assistant at Kutztown (Pa.) University with the softball and women's basketball teams. From 1988-92 he was the head softball coach, head women's basketball coach and a physical education instructor at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Cole also served a five-year stint as athletics director and head coach for softball, girl's basketball, and volleyball at Orlando Christian (Fla.) High School.

Cole earned a bachelor's degree in recreation and parks administration from North Carolina State University in 1977. Cole then went on to get his master's degree from Florida International University in 1989.