Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: Oregon Athletics
Laura Cilek named head women’s golf coach
7/15/2018 6:02:00 PM | Women's Golf
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Colorado State University Director of Athletics Joe Parker announced today that Laura Cilek has been named the head women's golf coach.
"We're extremely excited to welcome Laura to the Ram Family and to have her lead our women's golf program," Director of Athletics Joe Parker said. "She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Colorado State, and I am confident that she will continue to do great things for the program in the seasons ahead."
"I want to thank Joe Parker, Steve Cottingham, and Christine Susemihl for the opportunity to lead the Colorado State women's golf program," Cilek said. "I was immediately impressed with the strong tradition, high academic standards, and investment in athletics Joe has created at Colorado State.
Cilek comes to Fort Collins after spending three seasons at the University of Oregon where she was the associate head coach. In three years at Oregon she helped lead the Ducks to their best season in program history finishing No. 17 in the Golfstat Rankings in 2016. She also helped lead Oregon to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and two consecutive NCAA National Championship appearances.
"I will work tirelessly to provide the best student-athlete experience possible and to help my players achieve their goals on and off the course," added Cilek. "I will lead a program that makes our Colorado State family proud, gets our community excited, and helps our student-athletes feel fulfilled. I am extremely grateful to Ria Scott for her leadership and helping me to prepare to be a Head Coach over the past three years at Oregon."
Prior to Oregon, Cilek spent two years at Middle Tennessee State University as an assistant women's golf coach where she helped lead the program to two of the best seasons in school history. She helped the Blue Raiders break school records for best team round, best individual round and best three-round tournament total (both team and individual). MTSU also earned four tournament championships, three individual titles and four Conference USA player of the week honors over two seasons.
During her stint at MTSU, Cilek also served a four-month internship at the Jason Floyd Golf Academy in Malaga, Spain, during the summer of 2014 where she worked over 150 hours of lessons using the latest teaching technologies.
After graduating from Iowa in 2011, Cilek joined the Hawkeye coaching staff. She helped Iowa post record scoring averages each year while she continued her own golfing career, finishing runner-up at the 2012 Iowa State amateur and winning the 2012 Iowa City amateur. She qualified and played in the 2013 USGA amateur public links, winning the Iowa Match Play championship.
During her collegiate career at Iowa, Cilek was named academic all-Big Ten in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and was a dean's list selection in 2008 and 2010. She was also voted team captain in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Cilek earned her bachelor's degree in political science at Iowa in 2011 and her master's degree in sports administration from MTSU in 2015.
What they're saying about Laura Cilek…
Nancy McDaniel, Head Women's Golf Coach, California
"Laura Cilek is one of my favorite young coaches who brings awesome energy to everyone around her. I am excited for her to lead the CSU Rams to their next level with her unyielding passion for the game and for coaching."
Ria Scott, Head Women's Golf Coach, Virginia
"Laura Cilek is one of the brightest young coaches in the country. She has prepared herself to be a head coach through her involvement in every part of the program at Oregon. Colorado State knows that they are getting a quality person who cares deeply about her student-athletes and will be committed to their success."
Mark Hankins, Head Men's Golf Coach, Nebraska
"Laura has all of the qualities you are looking for in a head coach. She is a former D1 collegiate and top amateur player, she has extensive experience in recruiting, fundraising, and organization of teams at the highest level. This is a great hire for Colorado State."
Caroline Inglis, LPGA Player, former Oregon student-athlete
"I couldn't be happier for Laura, she is so deserving of this opportunity. I have no doubt that she will do great things at Colorado State. I was lucky enough to be coached by Laura during my time at Oregon and she genuinely cares about her players both on and off the course."
"We're extremely excited to welcome Laura to the Ram Family and to have her lead our women's golf program," Director of Athletics Joe Parker said. "She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Colorado State, and I am confident that she will continue to do great things for the program in the seasons ahead."
"I want to thank Joe Parker, Steve Cottingham, and Christine Susemihl for the opportunity to lead the Colorado State women's golf program," Cilek said. "I was immediately impressed with the strong tradition, high academic standards, and investment in athletics Joe has created at Colorado State.
Cilek comes to Fort Collins after spending three seasons at the University of Oregon where she was the associate head coach. In three years at Oregon she helped lead the Ducks to their best season in program history finishing No. 17 in the Golfstat Rankings in 2016. She also helped lead Oregon to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and two consecutive NCAA National Championship appearances.
"I will work tirelessly to provide the best student-athlete experience possible and to help my players achieve their goals on and off the course," added Cilek. "I will lead a program that makes our Colorado State family proud, gets our community excited, and helps our student-athletes feel fulfilled. I am extremely grateful to Ria Scott for her leadership and helping me to prepare to be a Head Coach over the past three years at Oregon."
Prior to Oregon, Cilek spent two years at Middle Tennessee State University as an assistant women's golf coach where she helped lead the program to two of the best seasons in school history. She helped the Blue Raiders break school records for best team round, best individual round and best three-round tournament total (both team and individual). MTSU also earned four tournament championships, three individual titles and four Conference USA player of the week honors over two seasons.
During her stint at MTSU, Cilek also served a four-month internship at the Jason Floyd Golf Academy in Malaga, Spain, during the summer of 2014 where she worked over 150 hours of lessons using the latest teaching technologies.
After graduating from Iowa in 2011, Cilek joined the Hawkeye coaching staff. She helped Iowa post record scoring averages each year while she continued her own golfing career, finishing runner-up at the 2012 Iowa State amateur and winning the 2012 Iowa City amateur. She qualified and played in the 2013 USGA amateur public links, winning the Iowa Match Play championship.
During her collegiate career at Iowa, Cilek was named academic all-Big Ten in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and was a dean's list selection in 2008 and 2010. She was also voted team captain in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Cilek earned her bachelor's degree in political science at Iowa in 2011 and her master's degree in sports administration from MTSU in 2015.
What they're saying about Laura Cilek…
Nancy McDaniel, Head Women's Golf Coach, California
"Laura Cilek is one of my favorite young coaches who brings awesome energy to everyone around her. I am excited for her to lead the CSU Rams to their next level with her unyielding passion for the game and for coaching."
Ria Scott, Head Women's Golf Coach, Virginia
"Laura Cilek is one of the brightest young coaches in the country. She has prepared herself to be a head coach through her involvement in every part of the program at Oregon. Colorado State knows that they are getting a quality person who cares deeply about her student-athletes and will be committed to their success."
Mark Hankins, Head Men's Golf Coach, Nebraska
"Laura has all of the qualities you are looking for in a head coach. She is a former D1 collegiate and top amateur player, she has extensive experience in recruiting, fundraising, and organization of teams at the highest level. This is a great hire for Colorado State."
Caroline Inglis, LPGA Player, former Oregon student-athlete
"I couldn't be happier for Laura, she is so deserving of this opportunity. I have no doubt that she will do great things at Colorado State. I was lucky enough to be coached by Laura during my time at Oregon and she genuinely cares about her players both on and off the course."
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