July 23, 2001

The Bluffton College athletic department has announced that Cathy Bonner has accepted the head coaching position of the BC women's basketball program.

Bonner served as an assistant coach at Bluffton last season alongside former head coach Michele Durand, who resigned in June to accept the head coaching position at Ohio Northern University.

Bonner, who is BC's ninth women's basketball head coach since the Beaver's first season in 1968, has a wealth of coaching experience both at the high school and college levels. Before arriving at Bluffton, she served as an assistant coach at The University of Findlay where she helped guide the 1998-99 Oiler program to a 24-7 record and a trip to the NAIA national tournament. Bonner also was the junior varsity coach at Findlay and fashioned a 9-4 record with the JV program.

Prior to arriving at Findlay Bonner spent seven years as a high school coach in New Mexico, including five seasons at Paradise Christian High School where she won one state championship and took home a runner-up trophy once as well. In her seven years as a high school coach Bonner fashioned a 145-45 record and was named the Division AA Coach of the Year once. Also having volleyball and softball coaching experience, as well, Bonner led Paradise Christian to a state runner-up finish in volleyball one year, and took Hope High School to a third place finish in the state softball tournament one year, also.

A 1980 graduate of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., Bonner has been a youth/recreation minister at six different churches and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is currently the assistant director of Bluffton's Marbeck Center.