Bio

B.A., Olivet Nazarene University
MBA, University of St. Francis (Ill.)

Coach Katherine Hannagan (137-129 overall, 14-32 at Bethel) enters her second year as head coach of Bethel softball and eighth year as a collegiate head coach in 2024-25.

Prior to her arrival at Bethel, Hannigan was the head coach at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis., for four seasons and had a record of 72-53. In her first season, the Wolves went 18-20 and advanced to the CCAC tournament. Hannigan's second season was cut short after the Tucson Invitational due to COVID. In 2021, she led the Pack to an 18-17 overall mark and a 9-13 CCAC record, including an appearance in the conference tournament where the team went 1-2. The 2022 season saw Hannigan coach the Pack to new heights as the Wolves finished 30-13, their best finish in six years. Stritch finished 13-9 in the CCAC, earning the fifth seed in the conference tournament. The Wolves went 2-2 in the tournament, including an extra-inning victory over St. Ambrose and 1-0 loss to Olivet Nazarene in their final game.

Coach Hannigan began her head coaching career at Finlandia University, where she spent three seasons and led the Lions to a record of 51-44. In 2017, Finlandia was 25-13 and won the American Collegiate Athletic Association championship. Hannigan was named the Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) Coach of the Year that season. She led the Lions to a 21-12 record and a second consecutive ACAA conference championship in 2018, and Hannigan earned AD3I Coach of the Year honors for a second straight year. In the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Finlandia had 12 All-AD3I selections and two All-Americans.

Before coaching at Finlandia, Coach Hannigan was an assistant for three seasons at the University of St. Francis in Illinois. During her tenure, the Fighting Saints advanced to the NAIA World Series in 2015.

A native of Monee, Ill., Hannigan had an impressive collegiate career at Olivet Nazarene University where she helped the softball program to a record of 190-58 as well as three Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) championships and three NAIA World Series appearances. Hannagan had a career record of 86-26 and pitched 84 complete games, tallying 288 strikeouts and holding a 2.22 ERA in 718 innings. She was awarded the CCAC Most Valuable Player award, CCAC Pitcher of the Year, NFCA All-Great Lakes Region, and NAIA and NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete twice, as well as being named an NCCAA All-American.

Hannigan holds a B.A. in elementary education from Olivet Nazarene University and a Master in Business Administration with a concentration in training and development from the University of St. Francis (Ill).

Coaching Record