Harvard Women's Lacrosse announced that Sammy Jo Tracy will join the coaching staff as an assistant coach in the fall of 2021.
Tracy, a two-time national champion and All-American at UNC, most recently served as an assistant coach with Arizona State. A native of Bedford, New York, Tracy has played professional lacrosse since graduating from UNC, including three years with the WPLL Pride in the Women's Professional Lacrosse League. She played with Athletes Unlimited this past summer, finishing tied for 11th in the league with 17 goals scored. She also served as National Director of Team 91 Professional Lacrosse, one of the top development programs in Colorado.
Tracy had a standout career as a lacrosse student-athlete at the University of North Carolina. As a Tar Heel, Tracy left her mark in the UNC record book as the leader in draw controls in her career (327), in a single season (145) and in an individual game (14).
As a freshman, Tracy led the Tar Heels to the program's first national title in 2013, scoring the winning goal in sudden-death triple overtime against NCAA lacrosse-powerhouse Maryland for the victory. After redshirting the 2014 season due to injury, Tracy came back in 2015 and recorded 38 goals, five assists and 44 draw controls.
In 2016, Tracy helped the Tar Heels to their second national title in four years, once again defeating Maryland for the trophy. That same year she was the only Tar Heel to score a goal in every game, including 15 multi-goal games. Tracy smashed the previous school record of 75 draw controls in a season with 108, before breaking her own record again as a senior with 145 draw controls during the 2017 season. She also set a UNC individual game record 14 draw controls in 2016.
Tracy helped the Tar Heels win back-to-back ACC titles in 2016 and 2017, and earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors in April 2016.
Tracy was a two-time IWLCA All-American and three-time All-ACC selection. She was a IWLCA First Team All-South honoree and also garnered Inside Lacrosse All-American honors as a draw specialist.
Tracy founded the Draw Control Academy shortly after graduating from UNC to help develop the offensive game of club teams across New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. She also coached in multiple clinics while still a student-athlete.
