Michele Dombrowski, a former NCAA All-American lacrosse and field hockey player, enters her 19th year as Sewanee's head women's lacrosse coach in 2024-25. In August 2022, she was elevated to Senior Woman Administrator for the department and in October 2023, she added Assistant Athletic Director to her title.

Dombrowski helped start the women’s lacrosse program in 2007, playing one season of club before becoming a varsity sport in 2008.

In 18 seasons as a collegiate varsity women's lacrosse coach, 17 at Sewanee and two at SUNY Oneonta, she has compiled a 188-121 overall record. At Sewanee, she holds a 180-100 mark. Since the inception of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) in 2013, the Tigers have posted a 55-17 record. 

Including her win-loss record as a field hockey head coach, she has registered a 294-247 overall record.

In 17 seasons with the Tigers, she is a three-time SAA Coach of the Year and earned West Region Coach of the Year honors. 

She has coached 41 players to All-Region accolades with the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), with 94 players earning All-Conference and 201 selections to the league's Academic Honor Roll. In addition, the program has earned the IWLCA Academic Honor Squad award 12 times, including 10 straight years from 2013-23 (no team selected in 2020). 

Dombrowski served on the IWLCA Board of Directors as one of three representatives for NCAA Division III from 2017-20, and she has served on several committees within the coaches’ organization.

Women's Lacrosse
Sewanee posted a 12-7 mark in 2024 with three defeats by one or two goals, and the Tigers lost in the semifinals of the SAA Championships. Seven players earned All-Conference honors, with Sally Herrington and Winnie Pajcic voted First Team All-SAA.
 
Herrington garnered All-Region accolades while 23 players were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll and four athletes received Academic All-District® recognition, as selected by the College Sports Communicators.
 
The Tigers finished 10-9 overall in 2023, ranking 13th nationally in goals scored (16.21) thanks to the program's success on the draw control. Sewanee placed seventh in the country in draw control (17.74 average), and Marlin Price set a program and SAA record with 161 draw controls. Nationally, Price was one of seven players who won 150 or more draws in a season. 

Seven players were named All-Conference and Pajcic garnered All-Region accolades. In the classroom, 21 students were selected to the SAA Academic Honor Roll and two were named Academic All-District®, as selected by the College Sports Communicators.
 
The Tigers played just four games in 2021 because of the global pandemic, registering a 2-2 mark with three players voted All-Region and 18 student-athletes listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
 
Back to a regular schedule in 2022, Sewanee matched the second-most wins in program history with a 14-5 mark and returned to the SAA Tournament championship game for the first time since 2015. Brooke Sigmon was voted SAA Newcomer of the Year, nine athletes were named All-Conference and two players earned All-Region accolades. Seven players were listed on the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
 
Sewanee's 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19, but the Tigers were able to play nine games, winning four contests. Dombrowski picked up her 150^th career win as a women's lacrosse coach in the team’s last victory of that campaign, versus Oberlin on Feb. 29.

Sewanee also produced its first All-American in women's lacrosse in 2020, with Logan Bulls earning Honorable Mention laurels by Inside Lacrosse. In the classroom, the Tigers landed 21 athletes on the SAA Academic Honor Roll. 
 
The Tigers reached the semifinals of the SAA Championships in 2019, finishing 12-7 overall, 5-1 in league play. Dombrowski earned her third SAA Coach of the Year selection. The club ranked second in the nation in caused turnovers per game (16.63), seventh in ground balls per game (29.53), 35th in shooting percentage (.484) and 16th in save percentage (.531)
 
Nine student-athletes were listed on the All-Conference team, the most since 2015 season, and two were selected All-Region. In the classroom, the team totaled 19 members on the SAA Academic Honor Roll and seven were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.

In 2018, Dombrowski led the program to the SAA Tournament semifinals en route to a 12-6 overall record. The team led the conference in five statistical categories, including assists per game (7.56), caused turnovers per game (17.0), groundballs per game (29.33), saves percentage (.542) and scoring defense (7.06). The program finished third nationally in caused turnovers and groundballs per game and was ranked 12th in the country in save percentage and scoring defense.

Seven players earned All-SAA accolades and Grace Fulton was selected All-Region. Six players were chosen for the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll and 15 were listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll.

In 2017, the Tigers registered a 14-5 record and a 5-2 mark in conference play, reaching the semifinals of the league tournament. Brianna Young was voted SAA Defensive Player of the Year and led all NCAA Division III goalkeepers with a .613 save percentage out of 200 student-athletes. 

Five players earned All-SAA honors and two garnered All-West Region accolades. In the classroom, 13 students were named to the league's Academic Honor Roll and three were listed on the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll. 

Dombrowski earned her 100th career win with the program during a 7-11 campaign in 2016, defeating Berry, 11-6, in the SAA quarterfinals. Five players were named All-SAA while two were listed on the All-West Region team. Eleven students garnered SAA Academic Honor Roll recognition. 

Sewanee finished the season with a 17-2 record in 2015, capped by a 25-game winning streak over two seasons. The streak started on March 22, 2014, with a 23-3 win over Oglethorpe and lasted over a year until it ended in the SAA Championship on April 26, 2015, against Rhodes. Additionally, Sewanee made its second trip to the NCAA Tournament while also receiving the program's first-ever at-large bid.

During the 2015 campaign, the team ranked second nationally in scoring as well as 10^th in scoring margin, second in win percentage and eighth in draw controls.

Nine players were named to the All-Conference Team while Ellie Murphy was voted SAA Offensive Player of the Year. Five students earned All-Region accolades, including three on the First Team. Dombrowski was chosen SAA Coach of the Year for the second time and she was also named West Region Coach of the Year. 

After losing to Centre in the regular season, the Tigers came back to defeat the Colonels in the SAA Tournament to win their second consecutive SAA Tournament championship during the 2014 season.

Sally Anne Greenwood was voted SAA Offensive Player of the Year honor, a first for the program. Nine players were named All-SAA, four were listed on the All-West Region Team and seven athletes were listed on the SAA Academic Honor Roll. 

Sewanee made the move to the SAA in 2013, posting a 13-7 overall mark and sweeping through conference play en route to regular season and tournament titles. The Tigers made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s sixth year of existence.
 
Ten student-athletes were voted All-Conference, including six First Team selections, while six players were named All-Region. Dombrowski earned her first conference Coach of the Year honor and the Tigers picked up SAA Defensive and Newcomer of the Year selections.

The team played three seasons as an independent before the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) added the sport in 2011. In two seasons, the program posted an 8-1 record in conference play and appeared in back-to-back SCAC Tournament championships, winning the inaugural title in 2011.

As Field Hockey Coach
From 2011-15, Dombrowski served as the head coach of the Sewanee field hockey program, registering a 39-42 overall record. She served as an assistant coach for the program from 2016-23.

In 2015, Dombrowski coached Sewanee's first-ever SAA Newcomer of the Year award winner. As a team, Sewanee had six players earn All-SAA honors and three earned NFHCA All-Region accolades.

Sewanee posted 8-8 records in 2013 and 2014, the team’s best finish since a 14-7 mark in 2008. In 2012, Dombrowski led Sewanee to a 7-10 mark with five players garnering All-SAA recognition and three earning All-Region honors.

Previous Experience
Dombrowski came to Sewanee from State University of New York, College at Oneonta, Oneonta, N.Y., where she served as the head coach for field hockey from 1998-05 and assistant women’s lacrosse coach from 1998-03.

In 2003, Dombrowski was named National Field Hockey Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year and New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletics Association Field Hockey Coach of the Year. She was twice voted SUNYAC Field Hockey Coach of the Year (2002, 2004).

Prior to her time at Oneonta, Dombrowski was assistant lacrosse and field hockey coach at Smith College in Northhampton, Mass.

Playing Career and Personal
Dombrowski attended Goucher College in Baltimore, Md., earning bachelor’s in both Management and English in 1996. She received a master’s in Exercise Sports and Sports Studies from Smith College in 1998.

As a lacrosse player at Goucher, Dombrowski was named USWLA and Brine/IWLCA First Team All-American in 1996 and that same year was selected to the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship All-Tournament Team. She currently ranks fifth all-time in career points scored. The 1996 team was inducted into the Goucher College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 as its inaugural Team of Distinction. 

In field hockey, Dombrowski earned First Team College Field Hockey Association All-American honors in 1995 and Second Team in 1994. She was a three-time All-South Region First Team selection (1993-94-95) and holds the program record for points and goals in a career.

A two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American selection her senior year, Dombrowski was an NCAA Women’s Enhancement Scholarship recipient in 1996. In 1999, the college retired her jersey number, and in 2011, she was inducted into the Goucher College Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Dombrowski lives in Sewanee with her husband, Joe, and they have two daughters – Anja and Kira.

Michele Dombrowski's All-Time Collegiate Field Hockey Head Coaching Record