SAN ANTONIO — UTSA head women's golf coach Carrie Parnaby announced on Friday that she is stepping away from coaching after leading the program for the past nine seasons.
Hired in 2008 as the second head coach in the program's 12-year history, Parnaby led the Roadrunners to nine tournament titles, including a pair of Southland Conference championships in 2011-12, and six runner-up showings. UTSA advanced to three straight NCAA Regionals in 2011-13, including the school's first-ever at-large bid in 2013.
"After much thought and discussion with my family over the past year, I have decided to step away from coaching for the time being," Parnaby said. "This was a very difficult decision for me to make, but I want to be able to spend more time with my husband and two young children.
"I want to thank Lynn Hickey for providing me with an opportunity to become a head coach for the first time. She allowed me to build a program with a positive and competitive culture that has been successful on the course, in the classroom and in the community. For me, it has always been about the student-athletes, and it has been an honor to be able to coach and mentor so many special ones over the years. I will be forever grateful for my time at UTSA."
Under Parnaby's direction, UTSA captured 12 individual crowns, highlighted by individual conference champions Fabiola Arriaga (2014 Conference USA), Allie Jordan (2009 Southland Conference) and Shannon Jungman (2012 Southland Conference). Arriaga also became the first Roadrunner to earn an individual spot in the NCAA postseason when she advanced to the 2014 NCAA West Regional.
UTSA earned 27 of its 28 all-conference certificates under Parnaby, including nine first-team selections and a pair of Southland Golfers of the Year in Arriaga (2012) and Paola Valerio (2011). This season, Nikki Long and Aimee Ponte earned second-team All-Conference USA honors and Julie Houston was named to the third team.
The Roadrunners also have been recognized for their work in the classroom during her tenure. Six have been named to conference all-academic teams, Valerio was recognized as an Academic All-District selection in 2011 and Bruna Spengler (2010), Taylor Newlin (2013, '14), Long (2015, '16) and Houston (2016) have been named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team.
"We are so proud of the work that Carrie has done for our program," UTSA Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey said. "She took a very young program and moved it to the next level, and she did it the right way. The young women that have been a part of her teams have been leaders in our department and have had success not just on the course, but also in the classroom.
"We are sorry to see Carrie step away from her coaching career, but we respect her decision and need to be at home with her young family. We wish Carrie and her family the best. We hope that she and her husband, Ian, know that they will always be Roadrunners and that we are very grateful for their service to UTSA and what they brought to our women's golf program. We will immediately start our search for a new coach knowing that with the strong foundation Carrie built, we have a great opportunity to offer the next leader of this program."
UTSA will conduct a national search for a new head coach immediately.
