Article
Submitted
Christine Hatton
Young Harris College Director of Athletics Jennifer Rushton has announced the hiring of Christine Hatton as the head coach of the Mountain Lion women's lacrosse program.
"I'm truly excited to welcome Christine Hatton to the Enchanted Valley," said Rushton. "During our conversations, it became clear we have the same goals and vision for our women's lacrosse program. I am confident that coach Hatton will continue to build on the success of our program and lead our young women to success on and off the field."
Hatton comes to Young Harris after serving the past five seasons as head coach at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she built the program from the ground up.
"I want to thank Jennifer for the opportunity to continue my coaching career, welcoming me to Young Harris and back to my home state of Georgia," said Hatton. "Coach Hurley has done a great job of building the program over the last few years and I look forward to continuing that success."
Hatton led the Mountain Lions to 28 wins in Colorado Springs, including a program best 8-4 record during the 2021 campaign. UCCS finished third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and advanced to the RMAC Tournament semifinals in 2021.
During her five seasons with the Mountain Lions, she coached 17 All-RMAC performers and had 33 players earn RMAC All-Academic accolades. Natalie Church was named the league's Freshman of the Year in 2018.
Prior to her starting at UCCS, Hatton led Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, to a pair of National Women's Lacrosse League tournament appearances, which served as the national championship tournament for NAIA institutions until this year. She was the NWLL South Region Coach of the Year in 2014 after a runner-up finish in the region. The Eagles finished second in the Appalachian Athletic Conference in 2015 and were the runner-up in the AAC conference tournament twice.
Hatton was the first women's lacrosse coach at Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. She led the team's development and led the Warriors to a winning season by the second year. Hatton was also on the Board of Directors for the first youth lacrosse program in Nebraska.
A Conyers, Georgia, native who played her prep lacrosse at Rockdale County High School, Hatton played for Tennessee Wesleyan College while earning her bachelor's in exercise and sports sciences. As a three-year letterwinner at TWC, Hatton was part of a squad that had reached the NWLL championship game in 2011.