Former Greeley Central High School head coach, University of Arkansas standout and Northern Colorado assistant coach Jennifer Schunke was named head softball coach on Sept. 13, 2006.

"I am extremely excited to be back at Northern Colorado," Schunke says. "I am looking forward to working with all the dedicated student-athletes in this program and leading them in taking UNC softball to the next level."

Schunke became an assistant coach at Greeley Central High School in 2004 before taking over the head coaching duties a year later in helping build the Wildcats program.

She began her coaching career at Northern Colorado when she served as an assistant coach in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, she helped coach the Bears to a 28-18 overall record, 13-7 mark in the North Central Conference and a .311 team batting average. Schunke has also coached the 18-and-Under Greeley Classics traveling team.

As a collegiate player Schunke had great experience in building a program, as she was a member of Arkansas' inaugural softball squad in 1996. For the Lady Razorbacks she was a four-year team captain and still hold career records in home runs, RBI and total bases and remains in the top 10 of virtually every other statistical category. Her senior season the team finished 44-31 overall and 19-11 in the Southeastern Conference. As the team's starting catcher, Schunke started 74 of a possible 75 games and throw out 16 bases runners. During her tenure in Fayetteville, Schunke was the team MVP, an All-SEC selection and a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection.

Schunke also has ASA playing experience, with the Southern California Hot Stuff ASA team which placed second at the national tournament in 1994 and the California Diamonds which won a national championship in 1997.

Schunke received her bachelor's degree in education from Arkansas in 2000. She completed her master's degree in physical education at Northern Colorado in December 2002.

Schunke and her husband Tony, a former Northern Colorado wrestler, have three sons,  Damion (6), Navarro (4) and Elijah (1), and they welcomed daughter Alaya into the world in May 2009.