Randy Vite Named SUNY New Paltz Women's Lacrosse Head Coach
New Paltz Sports Information Department
New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz Director of Athletics, Wellness & Recreation Renee Bostic announced the hiring of Randy Vite as the new head women's lacrosse coach Tuesday.
"I am very grateful to Director of Athletics Renee Bostic and the entire search committee for the opportunity to be a head coach of a team of dedicated, hard-working women," Vite said. "I'm excited to hit the ground running by building on the team's upward trajectory, developing a strong team culture, and enhancing the student-athlete experience for each of our players."
Vite, a Highland Mills, NY native, joins the Hawks after nearly four years as the lead assistant coach at the University of Chicago where she helped build the first-year program in 2019.
"We're excited to have a young and up-and-coming coach who has ties to the Hudson Valley," Bostic said.
Under the guidance of Vite, the Maroons never had a losing season since its inception, including an 11-2 finish last season where they won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship in dominating fashion and enjoyed an NCAA Elite 8 appearance having garnering second and third round wins over Hamline and John Carroll before falling in a tight game against Dension, 10-7.
Vite was a part of all aspects of the program, involved in recruiting, monitoring student-athlete academic progress, film breakdown and analysis, team travel, community service projects and organizing prospective student-athlete camps and clinics.
Prior to joining the UChicago women's lacrosse staff, Vite spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Aurora University where she earned her MBA after spending a season as the assistant coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo. During her two years in Colorado, she also served as an assistant coach at Pueblo West High School for a season, while working for Teach for America as a Special Education teacher at Risely Middle School International Academy of Innovation.
After graduating from Monroe-Woodbury High School in 2009, Vite played four seasons at DII Kutztown University where she earned All-PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) honors and was named a PSAC Scholar Athlete. Vite was a team captain and as a defender left the Golden Bears program the all-time leader in ground balls (200) and games played (68), while ranking second in both caused turnovers (77) and games started (62), and sixth in career draw controls (55). She graduated from Kutztown in 2013 and earned her bachelor's degree in education, majoring in both special education and elementary education with a concentration in math and science.
Including her experience as a college assistant coach, Vite also coached club lacrosse at Players 360 and Ultimate Lacrosse Club.
Vite becomes the seventh coach in Hawks women's lacrosse history, taking over for incumbent Keith Detelj who stepped down this past fall to join the women's lacrosse staff at Division I Kennesaw State. Detelj served as the head coach for the past five years, including interim during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
"I am tremendously excited and honored to be joining the athletics department at SUNY New Paltz," Vite said. "The program's recent success, SUNY New Paltz's strong academic standards, and the opportunity for me to come home—less than an hour from where I grew up and learned to love the sport of lacrosse—made the position impossible to pass up."
SUNY New Paltz saw unprecedented success the last few years with the team setting a record for total wins and conference victories in 2019 and earned its first ever SUNYAC postseason berth. After finishing a shortened 2020 season due to COVID-19, the Hawks had their first winning season in 2021 at 5-3, including a first-ever win over Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta.
Although the team graduated four All-SUNYAC selections from last season, including two of the best scorers the program has had in Amy Hofer and Tara Bovich, the team returns 10 players including All-SUNYAC midfielder Maddie Gillis who leads a talented group of upperclassmen.
"We have incredible potential and I believe we can absolutely become contenders in the State University of New York Athletic Conference," Vite added.
SUNY New Paltz is set to begin their 2022 season Feb. 23 at home against Western Connecticut State on the North Turf Field.
