Mike Olson to Coach Softball, Dave Ragone to Coach Men's Golf

Release Date: January 30, 2001

The Monmouth College athletic office announced Monday that Mike Olson and Dave Ragone have been named interim coaches for softball and men’s golf, respectively.

Olson, who has previously been head coach of the wrestling and men’s and women’s golf programs at Monmouth, will be coaching his fifth sport for the Scots. Like Ragone, he was also a football assistant last fall.

"We’re very pleased with the qualities and accomplishments of Mike Olson," said athletic director Dr. Terry Glasgow. "His willingness to serve is genuinely appreciated while our search continues for a full-time softball coach."

The softball team won the Midwest Conference South Division regular-season title last spring under Vanessa MacCallum, who left to take a coaching position at her alma mater, Beloit College. Her replacement, Julie Crisco, resigned last fall to pursue other interests.

"I’m happy to be able to help the athletic department out and will work very hard to have a successful team," said Olson. "Our softball team has good players with experience coming back, and I will work hand in hand with them to make Monmouth proud of our softball team."

Olson’s MC coaching highlight came in 1997, when he guided the Fighting Scots wrestlers to their first and only conference championship. His career highlight was his induction last fall into the Hall of Fame at Jamestown College in North Dakota, where he led his 1983-84 squad to a second place national finish and had two team members win national titles. The 1959 graduate of Coe College posted a dual meet record of 428-94 during a 37-year coaching career.

Olson was slated to coach the men’s golf team for the second straight season, but that duty will now go to Ragone, who came to Monmouth last summer to serve as a football assistant.

"We’re also very fortunate to have a young man with the interest and enthusiasm to take over the golf coaching assignment," Glasgow said of Ragone. "I’m sure that his enthusiasm will rub off on our young squad."

Ragone, a 1992 graduate of Ursinus College, said, "I’m excited about the opportunity to lead a program with such a rich history. We hope to build on the tradition of the past and compete in the present to create a future of excellence."