Title: Head coach, Creighton
Sport: Fastpitch Softball
Career Record: 726-474-3

Three-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year Brent Vigness finished his 18th season at the helm of one of the Midwest’s finest programs and the most successful MVC program over the last 13 seasons.  After leading the Bluejays to another NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010, he has now guided his teams to six Valley regular-season titles (1998-2000, 2007-09), six MVC tournament titles (1999, 2003-05, 2007, 2010), seven NCAA regional appearances (1999, 2003-05, 2007-08, 2010) and a place on the national scene, cracking the national polls and knocking off top-25 teams with regularity.

The Creighton softball team has captured more combined MVC regular-season and tournament titles since 1998 than any softball program in the conference with 12 titles in that span.  Vigness has twice guided the Bluejays to three straight regular-season titles – from 1998 to 2000 and from 2007 to 2009.  He led the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and earned MVC Coach of the Year honors in 1998 following his first Valley crown.  With better than 700 career wins, Vigness is among the top-35 active coaches in NCAA Division I softball with the most wins.  His 553 wins at Creighton heading into the 2011 season are just 11 shy of the school record held by Hall of Famer Mary Higgins.

Led by a six-member senior class – all starters – the 2010 Bluejays overcame a 2-5 MVC start to finish 18-7 in league play and sweep through the MVC Tournament for their sixth Valley postseason crown under Vigness.  Led by two-time MVC Player of the Year and NFCA All-American Renae Sinkler’s school and MVC record 24 home runs, the team set a school record with 66 home runs.  The Jays’ 1.1 homers per game ranked 23rd in the NCAA in 2010.  All-American Tara Oltman ended her record-setting career by becoming the first student-athlete in school history to be named first-team all-conference four times and setting a school record with 32 wins (of the team’s 37).  Vigness logged career win No. 700 in a victory over Southern Illinois (May 14) during the Bluejays’ 2010 MVC tournament title run.

Vigness arrived in Omaha after leading Division II Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., to a 148-71-1 (.675) mark between 1989 and 1993.  Vigness left as the winningest coach in Assumption College history.  He guided the Lady Hounds to three consecutive 30-win seasons.  The 37 victories posted by the 1990 Assumption College squad is the best single-season mark in school history.  In 1992, Vigness became the youngest coach in the school’s history to amass 100 wins.

Named the Northeast 10 Conference “Coach of the Year” in both 1989 and 1991 after leading the Lady Hounds to the league regular-season title, Vigness’ 1992 Assumption squad led all Division II teams in batting average, by hitting an amazing .370 for the season.  In his first season at Assumption (1989) Vigness was hired as head softball coach, assistant women’s basketball coach and women’s trainer before dropping the latter two positions to concentrate solely on softball.

From 1986 to 1988 Vigness served as a student assistant softball coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa, where he graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in physical education and recreation.  Central College reached the Division III national quarterfinals in each of Vigness’ three seasons there, finishing as the national runner-up in 1986 and national champion in 1988.

A two-year letterwinner in football at Central College, Vigness lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track at Nesco High School in Zearing, Iowa.  As a senior, he was the captain of both the football and basketball teams and earned all-conference honors in both football and baseball.

Vigness’ sister, Brenda Coldren, coached at MVC rival Indiana State for nine seasons.  Vigness and his wife, Cris, have three sons – Brady (15), Boyd (5) and Bryce (2).