Trinity University

Justin Parker '99
jparker@trinity.edu
(210) 999-8447
Jul. 30, 2012

Five New Head Coaches Join Trinity University Athletics Staff

SAN ANTONIO - August will usher in a new era in five different sports at Trinity University, as a handful of teams will open the season with a new head coach in 2012-13.  But the faces in the locker rooms will be familiar - four of those coaches were assistants with their respective teams last year, and the fifth is a former Tiger student-athlete.

Former Trinity men's basketball standout Cameron Hill has returned to lead the Tiger women's basketball team.  Hill graduated from Trinity in 1999, and was a two-time All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference performer in his three seasons with the Tiger men's team.  He led the 1997-98 team to the SCAC Championship, as well as the team's first appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Last season, Hill led the Ursuline Academy of Dallas women's basketball team to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) 5A State Championship.

Hill is one of three brothers to attend Trinity, as both Chris and Casey also played basketball with the Tigers.  All three brothers are in the "family business," following in the footsteps of their dad, Bob Hill, who coached the San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Supersonics, and Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Brandi Crnkovic also is moving up to head coach after serving as the assistant coach for two seasons with the Tiger softball team.  Crnkovic helped lead the Tigers to back-to-back appearances in the SCAC Tournament Championship game, and last year's squad won 28 games - one away from the school record for victories.  She was an All-Southland Conference pitcher at Sam Houston State University, graduating as the school's all-time leader in career strikeouts.  Crnkovic also served as a graduate assistant with the team before coming to Trinity.

Marcus Whitehead and Derick Lawrence were also promoted to head coaching positions over the summer. Whitehead takes over as the head coach of the men's and women's track & field teams, while Lawrence is the new men's and women's cross country head coach.  Lawrence is the first new head coach in 12 years for the cross country program, after spending two seasons as the assistant coach.  Lawrence was an All-SCAC runner for DePauw University.  He helped lead the Tiger women's team to a second place finish in the SCAC last year, and has had two runners qualify for nationals each of his two years as the assistant coach. 

Whitehead was previously the Tiger assistant coach for two years in track & field, though last year was his first as the full-time assistant.  He helped the Trinity women's team finish second at the SCAC Championships last spring.  Whitehead was a standout track & field athlete at Southwest Oregon Community College and Eastern Washington University, and coached two relay teams and one individual to high school state championships in Las Vegas, Nev.

The most recent promotion was in the sport of women's tennis.  Jacob McMindes had been the men's tennis assistant coach for the past three seasons, and also served as the women's assistant last year.  During his time with the Tigers, McMindes has led the teams to four SCAC Championships and four appearances in the NCAA Playoffs.  McMindes was the ITA West Region Women's Tennis Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012, after earning the same award in men's tennis in 2011.  While earning his engineering management degree from the University of Incarnate Word, McMindes was also an All-Heartland Conference and All-Region tennis player as a student-athlete.  His brother Russell was the men's and women's tennis head coach last season, and has led the Trinity men's team for the past three years.