BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? After leaving her alma mater to establish her credentials as one of the nation's top NCAA Division II softball head coaches at San Francisco State, Kristi Lansford is returning to Bakersfield to help lead the Cal State Bakersfield softball team to the NCAA Division I level as its first full?time assistant coach.
“This will be a great opportunity and a great challenge,” says Lansford of her homecoming. “I think this is the right opportunity at the right time. I want to grow as a coach and this will give me a chance to see the game at a different level.”
“Having Kristi will certainly a big asset for our program,” says Roadrunner Head Coach Kathy Welter. “Kristi contributed so much as a player and part?time assistant when she was with us the first time. With how much she has grown and accomplished since then, she will play an important role as we begin our first full season of NCAA Division I competition in 2008.”
Lansford spent the last eight seasons at San Francisco State where she built the perennial cellar dwellers into an NCAA title contender. She led the Gators to three consecutive 40?plus win seasons from 2004?06, including a West Region title in 2005. In leading the Gators to 208 victories, Lansford coached six All?Americans, 13 all?region performers and two Academic All?Americans?.
Lansford's career as a head coach began at Northwood University in 2000. In her lone season on the Cedar Hill, Texas campus she led the Knights to the NAIA Regional tournament, producing four all?region and six all?conference performers.
But it all started for Lansford with five seasons in CSUB blue and gold. She compiled a .286 career batting average in 111 appearances as a two?time, first team All?CCAA outfielder in 1995 and 1996.
She led the Roadrunners to a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association titles as a player before spending her next three seasons as an assistant coach. In that capacity, she helped CSUB earn three more CCAA crowns and the 1998 NCAA West Region title.
Lansford earned her bachelor's degree from CSUB with a double major in physical education and communications. She earned her master's in education from CSUB in 1999.
