DALLAS – Connie Clark (Texas – ret.), Gretta Melsted (Augustana) and Tim Walton (Florida) were inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame on Friday evening at the Hyatt Regency Dallas.
Batting leadoff at the NFCA’s premier event, NFCA President and Missouri head coach Larissa Anderson welcomed those in attendance and kicked the night off by honoring the Hall of Famers in attendance with the NFCA’s traditional Hall of Fame March. NFCA Past President and Northwestern head coach Kate Drohan emceed the induction of Clark, Melsted and Walton.
At the conclusion of the event, NFCA Vice President for Awards and Arkansas head coach Courtney Deifel announced the Class of 2025 – former University of Georgia head coach Lu Harris-Champer, Kutztown University head coach Judy Lawes, University of Texas at Tyler head coach Mike Reed and VA Glory founder and owner Suzy Willemssen. This quartet will be inducted on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 in Las Vegas and bring the Hall’s total to 103.
Class of 2024
Connie Clark
Over the course of her legendary career at the helm of the Texas softball program, Connie Clark posted an 873-401-3 overall record and led the Longhorns to five Women’s College World Series appearances, including the 1998 squad that became youngest program to ever reach the WCWS after earning the opportunity in just the program’s second-ever season. In 22 seasons under Clark, the Longhorns appeared in 19 NCAA Regionals, while earning four Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. The three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year mentored 105 All-Big 12 Conference selections, 74 NFCA All-Region selections, 29 NFCA All-Americans, seven Big 12 Freshmen of the Year, five Big 12 Pitchers of the Year, two Big 12 Players of the Year, three USA Softball Collegiate Players of the Year and two Honda Awards for Softball.
Gretta Melsted
Gretta Melsted is in her 19th season as Augustana’s head coach in 2025 and 22nd overall as collegiate head coach. She guided the Vikings to a 2019 NCAA Division II national title and 12 NCAA tournament appearances since 2010. Since stepping into the Augie dugout in 2007, Melsted has steered the Vikings to 813 victories, reaching at least 40 wins on 11 occasions with five 50-win seasons and a program-record 61 victories in 2019. During her time with the Vikings, the program has reached the NCAA Division II National Championships four times, most recently in 2024, made four Super Regional appearances, captured four Central Region titles, and claimed six regular season and four NSIC tournament crowns.
Tim Walton
Tim Walton, who has steered University of Florida to two national championships, is in his 20th season at the helm of the Gators and 23rd as a collegiate head coach. Entering 2025, Walton has posted a 980-238 record in 19 seasons at Florida and overall record of 1,103-302. Walton’s .785 winning percentage ranks third among active NCAA head coaches with a minimum of 10 years of experience. In 2024, Walton achieved 1,100 career wins, just two seasons after he became the second-fastest NCAA Division I head coach to reach 1,000 career victories behind the legendary Arizona coach and NFCA Hall of Famer Mike Candrea. The five-time SEC Coach of the Year has led the Gators to back-to-back Women’s College World Series titles in 2014 and 2015, eight SEC regular-season championships, six SEC Tournament titles, 12 trips to the WCWS and five WCWS Championship series appearances.
CLASS OF 2025
Lu Harris-Champer, Georgia
Lu Harris-Champer, who retired after the 2021 season, is the architect of Georgia softball, building the Bulldogs into a nationally-recognized, championship caliber program. Over her 17 years in Athens, Harris-Champer steered UGA to 20 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships, one SEC tournament crown, 11 NCAA Super Regionals, and five trips to the Women’s College World Series, including three trips in the last five seasons of her career. Harris-Champer was 959-363 in her time at Georgia, mentoring 30 NFCA All-Americans, 77 All-SEC honorees, 76 NFCA All-Region recognitions, one SEC Player of the Year, two SEC Pitchers of the Year and one SEC Freshman of the Year. Prior to Georgia, she guided Southern Miss to two WCWS appearances and steered Nicholls State to 94 wins and a pair of Regional berths, finishing with 1,168-432-1 record (25 seasons).
Judy Lawes, Kutztown University
Judy Lawes heads into her 38th season leading the Kutztown University softball program. She holds a record of 1,132-645-2, ranking fourth among active Division II head coaches and is ninth overall heading into the 2025 season. The Bears have registered 35 winning seasons during her time in Kutztown, including a school-record 52 in 2012 and six more with 40-plus victories. A nine-time PSAC Coach of the Year, Lawes has guided the Bears to 23 PSAC playoff appearances, nine division titles, and two tournament championships. They have reached the NCAA Tournament 22 times, winning three Atlantic Region crowns and playing in two National Championships, finishing as the national runner-up in 2013 and national semifinalist in 2022. Under her tutelage, 13 Bears have earned NFCA All-America honors and 76 more have earned NFCA All-Region recognition
Mike Reed, University of Texas at Tyler
From starting the UT Tyler softball program in 2005, to leading it to an NCAA Division III National Championship in 2016 and an NCAA Division II National Championship in 2024, head coach Mike Reed has guided the Patriots to an 814-151 record and 14 NCAA national tournament appearances. Reed recently matched the legendary Sue Enquist as the all-time winningest softball coach across all levels of NCAA softball with a career winning percentage of (.835) in 23 seasons. He owns the second-highest all-time win percentage among Division III coaches, coaching 18 of his 23 seasons at the Division III level, and is a nine-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year, and eight-time NFCA Regional Coach of the Year. He has helped develop 37 All-Americans, 112 All-Region and 182 all-conference selections and has led the UT Tyler program to the NCAA World Series in 10 of the 14 years since the Patriots became postseason eligible in Division III.
Suzy Willemssen, VA Glory
Suzy Willemssen, who has over 1,300 career wins at the high school and travel ball level, is the founder and owner of 18u Gold and the recently-retired head coach at Bishop O’Connell High School (Va.) and the former Lee High School (Va.) head coach. Her vision of Purpose Driven Softball started with the Glory in 2010 with the organization growing into 20 teams in Virginia and the upper Midwest. Eight years ago, Willemssen started the annual Strikeout Cancer Camp & Tournament, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children’s National Hospital and Cancer Research. On the field, the five-time Virginia Independent Schools Athletics Association (VISAA) Coach of the Year has guided her high school programs to five state championships and has also earned coach’s honors through the NFCA, Washington Post, WCAC and Pigskin Club of D.C. She is a member of the Virginia USSSA Softball Hall of Fame and is the inaugural Triple Crown Sports Joan Joyce Award winner in 2022.
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