Lisa Campanell Komara Announces Retirement

Lisa Campanell Komara, who built The College of Wooster women's golf program from scratch into a North Coast Athletic Conference contender, has announced her retirement from coaching following a distinguished 40-year career, the last 27 of which were with the Fighting Scots.

"What a wonderful opportunity it has been for me to work with Lisa over the last four months," said Lynn Holleran, Wooster's director of athletics and physical education. "I truly appreciate her love of this program, our student-athletes, and the College as a whole. She will certainly be missed. We wish her all the best in retirement."

"I am very grateful to have taken my passion of sports and competition and made a career out of it," reflected Campanell Komara. "I have enjoyed every minute of coaching young women and men to reach the fullest potential of their athletic goals while in college and be a part of their growth as they became young professionals."

Campanell Komara took on the challenge of starting Wooster's varsity women's golf program in 2010 and pursued the program's development with unwavering passion and dedication over the last 14 seasons. Wooster scored an impressive third-place finish in the NCAC Championship Series during its inaugural season. Campanell Komara's drive to continuously elevate the Fighting Scots' program culminated with a record-shattering 2023-24 season that saw the team win a program-record six tournaments and average 321.5 strokes per round – the program record by 14 strokes. Individually, senior Melissa Burtscher was the NCAC runner-up for the program's highest individual conference placer.

"How we started is 'the beginning is the most important part of the work'," said Campanell Komara, who pointed to the quote attributed to Plato that hangs on her office desk. "We had to work hard to get better with our team having limited previous varsity experience. I have totally enjoyed seeing how this program has grown from its infancy to now, where we just shot a 299. To have the quality of players in the program who are highly competitive and want to take this program even further is what I'm going to enjoy most watching the program move forward."

Campanell Komara's final team posted the top three individual single-season stroke averages in the program's 14-year history, carded six rounds of 75 or better, three different Scots shot 75 or better in a round, and three of the program's five best rounds were turned in. Wooster's record 299 in the opening round of the NCAC Championships had the team in contention for its first-ever conference title, and the Scots followed that up with a 301 to stay four strokes back through 36 holes at conference.

Wooster's first major breakthrough under Campanell Komara came in 2014 when Wooster won the Ohio Wesleyan University Fall Invitational and had three of the top four individuals in the 63-competitor field. Wooster's rapid climb to consistent contention caught fire from that signature moment, as a then-program-best three Scots earned all-conference certificates in 2017, led by alumna Hannah Buzolits' first-team award. A then-record three tournament wins came during the 2018-19 season, and Wooster matched that in 2021-22, while moving up to third at the NCAC Championships for the program's best showing in over a decade.

Under Campanell Komara's leadership, women's golf Scots earned 23 all-conference certificates, won 18 tournaments, and posted a 529-378-9 record in head-to-head competition, including a 155-60-5 record over the last there years. Wooster was just as impressive in the classroom, with alumna Emily Howerton earning a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and 26 Women's Golf Coaches Association All-America Scholar Team honors being earned by the Scots, including four-time qualifiers Sharmeen Chinoy, Howerton, Devin Matson, and Tongtong Wu.

Prior to starting Wooster's women's golf team, Campanell Komara served as the College's head women's basketball coach for 13 seasons (1997-2010), winning 122 games along the way. Among her hardwood highlights were three victories over the eventual NCAC champions, as well as a 14-12 record in 2006-07, which marked the team's first winning record in 14 years. When she first came to Wooster, Campanell Komara served as head women's tennis coach for two seasons.

Campanell Komara's coaching career started at Kent State University-East Liverpool. From there, she went to Bethany College (West Virginia), where she won 126 basketball games in 12 years, capped by a 22-4 mark and the school's first trip to the NCAA Div. III Championships in 1997. She handled stints as the head volleyball coach (1985-93) and head women's tennis coach (1994-97) and left as the school's all-time winningest coach in all three sports. She also served as coordinator of women's athletics from 1987 until 1991.

A national search to find Campanell Komara's successor will take place this summer.