Kim Lewellen named new UVA Women's Golf Coach

FAHooGolfs · May 2, 2007

Big Break Kim leaves ECU for UVA

As a UVA fan, I'm obviously very excited about this.
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Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage announced today that Kim
Lewellen has been named the Cavaliers new women¹s golf coach.
She succeeds Jan Mann who announced her retirement in February. Mann
directed the program for its first four seasons, including berths to
NCAA Regional Championships the past three years and a 13th-place
finish at the
2005 NCAA Championships.

Lewellen comes to Virginia after spending the past two seasons as the
head women¹s coach at East Carolina. She led the Pirates to the
program¹s first ever Conference USA Championship in 2006 and a
runner-up finish this season.
Her 2006 squad qualified for the NCAA East Regional, the third time a
team from ECU had reached NCAA postseason play. This year¹s Pirate
squad qualified an individual competitor for the NCAA East Regional.

Before taking over the program at East Carolina, Lewellen served as
both the head men¹s and women¹s coach at The Citadel for the 2003-04
season.

"We are excited to have attracted a proven head coach like Kim
Lewellen to take over the reins of our women's golf program,²
Littlepage said. ³Coach Lewellen is a perfect fit to resume the work
Jan Mann put in which established program. She has the energy and love
for the game that is infectious. She will be a great colleague and
role model for our student-athletes."

³It will be an honor and privilege to be part of such a prestigious
university,² Lewellen said. ³I am very much looking forward to the
opportunity of competing again in the ACC. Jan Mann has done a
terrific job of starting from scratch and quickly making Virginia one
of the best programs in the nation. It will be an exciting challenge
to carry on the great tradition she has started. I know there are some
terrific young ladies in the program who have many outstanding
accomplishments as golfers. I am eager to start working with them and
helping them improve and continue to build the Virginia program¹s legacy."

Lewellen, who competed at North Carolina from 1990-93 under her maiden
name of Byham, was a two-time All-ACC performer during her junior and
senior seasons. In 1993 she earned first-team All-America honors from
the National Golf Coaches Association, only the second Tar Heel golfer
to achieve that honor. As a senior she won medalist honors at the NCAA
East Regional Championships and helped North Carolina to its second
straight eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Her score of
3-under 213 at the NCAA East Regional still ranks as one of the 10
lowest tournament scores in Tar Heel history.

During her collegiate career Lewellen won a total of three
tournaments, including the Lady Tar Heel Classic in 1992 and the
Woodbridge Collegiate in 1993. In 2003 she was honored as a member of
the Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Women's Golf Team. She
was mentored at UNC by legendary coach Dot Gunnells.

Lewellen earned a bachelor's degree in speech communications and
psychology from North Carolina in 1993.

After graduation, Lewellen spent one season on the Women's European
Professional Golf Tour (1994-95) before gaining full membership status
on the Future's Professional Golf Tour from 1997 to 1999. She claimed
her first tour victory at the Briarwood Invitational in 1997. She has
also competed in events on the LPGA tour from 1993 to 1997.

Lewellen¹s role as a golf instructor dates back to her undergraduate
days when she worked as a teacher and counselor at North Carolina¹s
Golf School from 1992 to 1994. From 1995 to 1997 she worked as the
teaching professional at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. In
1997, she was nominated as North Carolina's Favorite Golf Teacher in
Golf For Women Magazine. Lewellen served as the tournament director
for the 2001 Carolina Celebrity Classic in Raleigh, N.C.,

Lewellen was named East Carolina¹s women¹s head coach on Jan. 10,
2006, after Pirate coach Kevin Williams resigned at mid-season to
become the head professional at Walnut Creek Country Club in
Goldsboro, N.C.

In her first year at ECU Lewellen coached a pair of all-conference
selections in Lene Krog (first-team) and Heidi Helliesen (third-team).
Krog won the C-USA individual championship that season while also
picking up conference Freshman-of-the-Year honors. Krog was a
second-team all-conference selection this year while Abby Bools and
Ana Maria Puche received third-team honors. Krog will compete as an
individual at the 2007 NCAA East Regional at LSU from May 10-12.

During the 2006 spring semester, the Pirates claimed four top-six
finishes in six events including a second-place finish in her first
tournament at the Papa Johns Miami Intercollegiate and earned ECU's
third NCAA East Regional berth with the C-USA Championship win. The
NCAA recognized the East Carolina women¹s golf program in 2006 for its
high Academic Progress Rate scores.

Lewellen has appeared on The Golf Channel¹s reality shot ³The Big
Break² twice. The series allows competitors the chance to play in an
LPGA tournament. In 2006 she was a member of the cast for ³Big Break
V: Hawaii² that was played at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. This year she
participated in ³Big Break: The Reunion² which began airing in February.

A was born in Salisbury, Md. and grew up in Raleigh, N.C., She won
back-to-back North Carolina State girls junior championships. While
attending Broughton High School, she earned all-conference honors
while competing for the boys team.

She and her husband John, an Episcopal minister, have two sons, Jack
and Simon. Lewellen will assume her responsibilities as Virginia¹s
head coach on July 1.