Published: August 06, 2008 04:00 am         

O-State hires former 'Wick standout

Hartwick College's all-time leading scorer, Kelly (Cooman) Kingsbury, was named Oneonta State's interim field hockey coach, Red Dragons athletic director Tracey Ranieri announced Tuesday.

Kingsbury replaces Shelly Behrens, who left after one season to take over as field hockey coach at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.

Kingsbury, who is first all-time in goals (68) and points (164) at Hartwick, becomes the fourth O-State field hockey coach in as many seasons. The school reported Laura Weiner left after coaching the team for personal reasons after the 2006 season. Before that, Michele Dombrowski coached the Red Dragons.

This marks Kingsbury's first head coaching job. She graduated from Hartwick in 2005 with a degree in accounting and spent the past three seasons assisting Hartwick head coach Anna Myers.

As an assistant at Hartwick, Kingsbury handled recruiting, player development and field coaching.

Kingsbury, a Sherburne-Earlville graduate, led the Hawks to an Empire 8 championship and a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament as a senior in 2004. Hartwick went 16-3 that season and Kingsbury was named a First-Team National All-American. She also earned Empire 8 and ECAC Division III Player of the Year honors.

The Red Dragons went 10-9 last season. Two seniors graduated from that team _ midfielder Jacki Rose and defenseman Samantha Merritt _ but O-State returns its top three scorers in Ainsley Stoll (13 goals, three assists), Kathryn Kubaryk (11-1) and Somer Shuffield (6-3).

The Red Dragons open their season Aug. 30 against visiting Alvernia College. O-State is at Hartwick at 7 p.m. Oct. 21.