Covenant Hires Jessica Palm As Assistant Softball Coach

Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Andrew Mindeman

The Covenant softball program has filled out its full-time coaching staff as Jessica Palm has been named the assistant coach for head coach Christine Engbers.

Palm comes to Covenant after spending the last two seasons as the graduate assistant at the University of St. Francis (Ill.). She played collegiately at Cedarville University from 2012-15.

"I feel very blessed to continue coaching softball and am very excited to do so at a Christ-centered school such as Covenant," Palm said.

While obtaining a master's degree in business administration at St.

Francis, Palm assisted head coach Amanda Jensen in various aspects of the program, including the development of players, fundraising, and recruiting. During Palm's time at USF, the program won 74 games and advanced to the NAIA national tournament in 2017 with a 43-7 overall record.

"I'm very excited to add Jessica to our growing program," Engbers said. "Jessica brings a ton of experience from both her time as an athlete and as a graduate assistant. I anticipate that she will take our infield play to the next level and will connect well with our team from the get go. Her knowledge of the game, along with her desire to mentor and develop our team off the field, makes me very thankful that she is a member of our coaching staff and program."

Palm was a four-year standout at shortstop for NCAA Division II member Cedarville where she played in a program-record 215 career games, making 214 starts. She batted .274 with 169 hits, including 50 extra-base hits, and 89 career RBIs in her four years. Palm was an All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference selection in her sophomore season and helped lead the Lady Jackets to three NCCAA National Tournament appearances.

She graduated from Cedarville in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in sport management and minors in business administration and Bible.

"I look forward to investing in the lives of these student-athletes," Palm added. "My hope is to not only assist in the development of skills on the field, but to help guide each player to grow in both their character and faith during their time at Covenant."