Aug. 6, 2015
Mike Larabee Hired as New Head Softball Coach
Mike Larabee is the Wildcats' new head softball coach.
"We are very excited to welcome Mike Larabee back home to Washington and to our coaching staff," said CWU Director of Athletics Dennis Francois in announcing the new hire. "Coach Larabee brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to a program with a strong history of success, and we are extremely confident in his ability to lead our young women to continued success in their academic pursuits and our softball program to a level of national prominence."
Larabee, a native of Kent, Washington, spent the last six seasons as the head coach the University of Arkansas, a NCAA Division I member of the Southeast Athletic Conference. He is eager to come back to his home state.
"I have been away from Washington for the last 14 years," Larabee said. "My parents live here and a large portion of my family is scattered around the state, it feels great to be coming back home,"
He will be taking over a Wildcat team that missed out on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playoffs last year despite being the preseason favorite to win the conference after going to the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2014. The Wildcats return virtually the entire 2015 roster after losing just two players to graduation.
"The previous coaching staff at CWU did a great job of obtaining a very talented team and the first thing I checked after looking over the roster was the location of the World Series in 2016." Larabee added. "It will be our goal to compete for a championship and the pieces are in place to make that happen."
Larabee guided the Arkansas Razorbacks to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and 2013, reaching the regional final for the first time in school history in 2012 and again the following season. Prior to Arkansas, he was the head coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio from 2004-09. Larabee spent six years as an assistant coach for the USA Women's National Team helping the United States to gold medal finishes in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico and the World University Games in Taiwan in 2006.
Before joining the coaching ranks, Larabee played baseball at Washington State where he earned a bachelor's of science in physical education and a master's of science in exercise science. He spent 17 years playing men's fastpitch softball and was a member of the USA men's national team placing fourth in 1996 and won a bronze medal in 2000. During that time, Larabee taught in the Kent School District at Meridian Junior High and Kentlake High School.
Larabee and his wife, Dawn, have been married for 24 years. Dawn is a registered nurse for an orthopedic surgeon in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The couple has two children, Michaela and John.
Larabee is the third coach in CWU softball history, replacing Mallory Holtman-Fletcher who retired in June.
August 6, 2015