Jym Walters has been a member of Brian Niemiec's women's tennis coaching staff since 2022, and had previously served as the head coach of the SVC women's lacrosse team from 2012-23, and of the women's tennis team from 2014-17. He is also the assistant director of campus life at Saint Vincent College.Â
The winningest coach in Saint Vincent College women's lacrosse history, Walters retired from the position following the 2024 campaign after amassing a career record of 106-83.Â
"The impact that Jym has made on Saint Vincent College is truly immeasurable," said D.P. Harris, athletic director. "He's a tremendous coach and leader, but his contributions to our department and the College extend far beyond those on the field. We commend him on such an outstanding coaching career and wish him nothing but the best as he steps away from the lacrosse field. I can't thank him enough for all that he's done for our department and institution, and I'm glad he's still going to be a part of the Saint Vincent community."
A two-time conference Coach of the Year, Walters' teams have won 10 or more games in seven different seasons, highlighted by a program-record 13 victories in 2015, while they have finished .500 or better nine times.
Upon taking over as head coach in 2012, Walters inherited a team that had finished 2-8 the season prior. Just two seasons later, he guided the 2013 Bearcats to a then-program record 11 wins and a trip to the Presidents' Athletic Conference title game. In 2014, the Bearcats finished 11-3 overall and won the PAC title, while Walters was named the PAC Coach of the Year.
Saint Vincent joined the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference as a charter member for the 2015 season and enjoyed immediate success. In their first season in the league, the Bearcats finished 13-7 and won the inaugural ORLC championship, and Walters was named ORLC Coach of the Year. He would then go on to guide his squad to the ORLC title game in each of the next two seasons.
Women's lacrosse returned to the PAC as an NCAA automatic-qualifying sport in 2019, and the Bearcats have since qualified for the PAC Championship Tournament in three of the past four seasons.
Since 2015, Walters' players have earned a total of 40 all-conference accolades, while he has coached eight of the top-10 scorers in program history.
The list is highlighted by 2018 graduate Maggie (Nelson) Good, who rewrote the record books during her time as a Bearcat. A two-time ORLC Player of the Year, Good amassed a program-record 489 career points, including an NCAA-record 364 goals. In 2018, she set NCAA records in single-season goals (141), single-season points (178), single-season goals-per-game (8.81), and single-season points-per-game (11.12), while her 19 points in an April victory over Chatham were also an NCAA record.
Good was one of seven players coached by Walters to score more than 100 goals, while he mentored all four SVC players to have scored 200+ career points (Good, Molly Snyder, C'15, Joey Smith, C'22, and Sarah Wallerstedt, C'17) and 14 of the 18 players in team history to record more than 100 points.
Along with his extensive experience coaching women's lacrosse at Saint Vincent, Walters served as the head coach of the Bearcat field hockey team from 2006-11 and of the women's tennis team from 2014-18. He was named the PAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year in 2016 after leading the Bearcats to a 7-1 conference record.
Walters graduated from Saint Vincent College in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in sociology, before earning a master's in higher education and sports administration from Florida State University. He began his coaching career in Florida, serving on the women's tennis staff at Florida A&M University.
Prior to joining the Saint Vincent coaching staff, Walters had a successful tenure as head field hockey and girls' lacrosse coach at Greater Latrobe High School.
Along with continuing to organize a variety of student recreation functions and activities and serving as adviser of Saint Vincent's Student Government Association and the Outdoors Club, Walters will also continue to spearhead the annual "SVC 48 in 48" trip. Devised by Walters in 2022, SVC 48 in 48 is an initiative in which he and a group of students drive across the U.S. to visit Saint Vincent College alumni in 48 states over 48 days from mid-May through early July.
