Feb. 9, 2006

ST. LOUIS - Former Saint Louis field hockey head coach Maria Whitehead has been hired as an assistant coach at Duke University. Citing medical reasons, she took a permanent leave of absence from SLU in September, thus ending her three-year coaching stint.

A nation-wide search, chaired by Saint Louis director of athletics Cheryl L. Levick, is on-going to fill Whitehead's position.

Whitehead helped the Billikens to a steadily increasing number of wins during her tenure. In 2005, the Billikens posted their highest win total (seven) since the 1991 season. In all, she accumulated a 15-40 record with SLU.