Krista Wood leaving South Dakota State softball for Creighton
South Dakota State softball coach Krista Wood is stepping down to become the head coach at Creighton, the Bluejays announced Monday morning.
Wood, 41, spent eight seasons as the Jackrabbits coach and did an impressive job building a previously moribund program into the top team in the Summit League. The Jacks won the conference regular season and tournament titles each of the last two seasons, the first time they’d done either. They also won a game in the NCAA tournament each year. That came after Wood took the Jacks to the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2018 and 2019. Overall, Wood guided SDSU to a 238-164 record in eight seasons as coach. The Jacks had gone 11-36 with a 2-16 record in Summit League games the year before she was hired.
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Taking over the Bluejays, a Big East program, represents a return to Nebraska for Wood, who was a star player for Nebraska-Omaha, and came to SDSU after a highly successful tenure at Division II Wayne State in Wayne, Neb.
"I am fired up to come to Creighton University," Wood said in a statement. "I know that Creighton has a strong tradition of excellence not only in softball, but across the entire Bluejay Athletic Department. This is a phenomenal opportunity for me being so close to home and return to an area I am very familiar with. I want to thank athletic director Marcus Blossom for putting his trust in me to lead this program."
A three-time Summit League coach of the year, Wood has a 508-318 career record. SDSU went 41-13 this year and 43-8 in 2021. The Jacks not only dominated the Summit League but routinely had success playing against top Division I competition. The Jacks went 20-5 against the Big East under Wood, which includes wins in their last 11 games. That no doubt captured the attention of Creighton leadership.
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"I'm very excited to welcome Krista, her husband Alex and their two children, Braxton and Myles to the Creighton community," said Blossom. "Krista is a fantastic coach, leader and teammate who has earned a tremendous amount of success as a head coach at two different universities. More importantly, she's a great mentor of young women who also emphasizes the importance of academic success and personal development. Our softball program will thrive under Krista's leadership."
A Missouri Valley, Iowa, native, Wood’s teams set multiple offensive and pitching records at SDSU. As a player, she pitched UNO to the 2001 Division II national championship, and is still the Mavericks all-time wins leader.
The Jackrabbits will begin a national search for a new coach immediately. Wood’s top assistant, Kristi Villar, spent seven years as the head coach at Northern State and was the 2015 NSIC coach of the year. And former SDSU assistant Shannon Pivovar just completed her fourth season as the head coach at USF, leading the Cougars to a 27-25 mark.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Krista Wood leaving South Dakota State softball for Creighton
