Former Western Michigan student-athlete Marie Foster was announced as the program’s assistant softball coach in September of 2013.
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. Individually, Broncos have received seven first team All-MAC accolades and five have been named to six conference all-tournament teams. Foster has helped WMU to a trio of third place or higher finishes in the MAC West Division.
While the 2020 season was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, WMU picked up another top-25 victory with a 9-7 win at No. 22 Arizona State on February 8. Foster’s guidance helped junior Sydney Stefanick to a .364 batting average and team-high 24 hits during the shortened campaign. Stefanick was also the Broncos’ top option in the circle, recording three wins, four complete games and 48 strikeouts while yielding 22 walks.
In 2019, the Brown & Gold finished 18-28 and 9-11 in the MAC. Eight Broncos were named to the 2019 Academic All-MAC team with two earning MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete honors. Stefanik earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) DI All-Region First Team and first team All-MAC accolades while Kaylen Glenfield made second team all-league.
The Broncos finished the 2018 season 29-25 with a 14-10 MAC record. With a .288 overall batting average, the Brown & Gold set program records for doubles (76) and home runs (43) and posted the second-highest batting average (.247) in the conference during the campaign. WMU landed nine on the Academic All-MAC team and had Samantha Coffel and Stefanik on the All-MAC first team. Coffel was also a MAC All-Freshman Team honoree while Jordan Kurth made second team all-league. During the season, Coffel paced the league in hits (34) and total bases (59) and finished second in doubles (8).
Western Michigan had a high-powered offense in 2017, setting the program record for runs scored (241) and doubles (75) while tying the school record for home runs (38). Individually, the year was highlighted by senior Kelsea Cichocki becoming the WMU career leader in RBI (116) and setting the school’s single-season RBI record (46). She also finished second in career batting average (.355), single-season batting average (.405) and single-season hits (68). Cichocki led the MAC in overall batting average during the season and earned NFCA All-Region and CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition.
In 2016, Foster helped the Broncos produce three first team All-MAC selections in seniors Melissa Palmer, Sabrina Gamboa and Allyson Kus and a second-team pick with Cichocki. Palmer finished as WMU’s leader in career hits with 219 with Gamboa becoming the second Bronco to hit 20 career home runs.
The 2015 season included a Western Michigan trip to the MAC tournament title game as the No. 5 seed. The Broncos dropped their opening tournament game but bounced back to beat four higher seeds in elimination games. Six players earned All-MAC honors and four were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
In her first season back in Kalamazoo, Foster helped the Broncos to 17 wins and eight league triumphs. Loren Nagy was a second team all-league selection and Cichocki earned all-freshman accolades.
Foster returned to WMU after serving at Iowa Central Community College as an assistant coach, Dakota Wesleyan University as head coach and Ferris State University as head coach.
During the 2013 season at Ferris State, Foster helped the Bulldogs to a 29-16 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in school history. FSU finished as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runner-up in regular-season play with a 20-6 league record.
While at Dakota Wesleyan from 2008-11, Foster coached 16 players to All-Great Plains Athletic Conference accolades and her squad received the institution's NAIA Champions of Character Award in 2010. Her final team at DWU set or tied school records in nine categories, including runs scored and team batting average.
At Iowa Central in 2007 she was the softball program’s recruiting coordinator along with being the school’s director of intramurals. She helped the squad to a 52-13 overall record and league championship. Her efforts helped Iowa Central to a No. 5 national ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) poll and eight all-region honorees.
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 team Coaches Award recipient and earned All-Tournament Team accolades in 2003 during the Broncos’ Mid-American Conference 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, falling to Kent State, 2-1. After graduating from WMU in 2003, Foster spent time as a legislative assistant in the Michigan House of Representatives in Lansing for two years before serving as a graduate assistant instructor in the health, physical education and recreation department at Western Michigan from 2004-06.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in business/marketing came from WMU in 2003 followed by a master’s degree in sport management. She is married to her husband, Jason.
