KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan softball head coach Kathy Leitke announced on Friday that former Western Michigan softball student-athlete and longtime assistant coach Marie Foster will step away from the Bronco softball program.

During Foster's tenure, the Broncos have captured 141 overall victories and 65 Mid-American Conference triumphs. Western Michigan has reached the 20-win plateau in four of her seven seasons and has surpassed 10 league wins four times.

"I want to thank Marie for all of her hard work and dedication to WMU softball the last seven years," said Leitke. "Her pride for the program and support has been tremendous and I look for that to continue as she takes this time in her life to spend with her children."

Individually the Broncos have received seven first team All-MAC accolades with five earning conference all-tournament honors. Foster has helped WMU to a trio of third place or higher finishes in the MAC West Division.

Foster's collegiate softball career began at Lansing Community College, where she led the team to the NJCAA National Tournament in 2000 and finished second. She continued her softball career at WMU, where she was a two-time Coaches Award recipient and earned All-Tournament team accolades in 2003 during the Broncos' MAC Title run.

Not only was Foster a member of the 2003 MAC Tournament championship team, but she served as an intern for the 2006 squad that advanced to the MAC title game. After graduating from WMU in 2003, Foster spent time as a legislative assistant in the Michigan House of Representatives for two years. Foster then became a graduate assistant instructor in the health, physical education and recreation department at Western Michigan from 2004-06. Foster was named WMU softball assistant coach in September of 2013.