UTEP Director of Athletics Jim Senter announced the hiring of women's soccer head coach Kathryn Balogun, who spent the past five seasons as the head coach of Texas Southern University.

Balogun finished her time at Texas Southern with an overall record of 46-52-11 and is coming off a 7-8-3 finish this past fall.

She will succeed former UTEP women’s soccer head coach Kevin Cross, who piled together an overall record of 212-125-27 through 18 seasons.

“We are excited to welcome Kathryn Balogun to the UTEP Miner Family,” Senter said. “Coach Balogun has a proven track record of doing more with less as a head women’s soccer coach. Her SWAC record while serving as the head coach at Texas Southern University was competitive. Under her leadership, the Texas Southern program increased team grade point averages and graduation rates. She has strong recruiting ties in the state of Texas and is committed to recruiting the best student athletes in our state and region. Kathryn has demonstrated experiences as a player, assistant coach and head coach. We are confident she can build a program that competes for and wins Conference USA Championships.”

During her second season as head coach of Texas Southern, the Tigers had eight shutouts during the 2014 season, while scoring 33 goals during 2015. She coached Texas Southern to the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament each year and compiled a 31-13-6 record in conference play.

In back-to-back seasons, the Tigers fell to the eventual league champions on penalty kicks in the SWAC semifinals.

Through her time with Texas Southern, the program hit the highest RPI in program history and posted school records for shutouts, goals scored and assists during her regime. She also helped graduate 100 percent of her players and helped lift the team’s GPA by more than a full point (3.3).

Prior to her time at Texas Southern, Balogun was an assistant coach at Alabama State, a graduate assistant coach at Auburn University-Montgomery (2010-11) and an associate coach at Darlington Soccer Academy in Rome, Ga. (2008-10).

She played and received her degree from Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. (2004-08)

“I would like to thank the Miner search committee for this opportunity, especially Director of Athletics Jim Senter and Assistant Athletic Director David Kooger,” Balogun said in a release. “It is obvious that the Miner community shares many of the same values I do and I look forward to bringing excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community to the Sun City. I am extremely grateful for my time at Texas Southern and in the SWAC. I believe it has prepared me well for success at UTEP. Go Miners!”

Nothing has been released about her salary information, but Cross previously made $73,185 annually as of 2016, according to governmental data received by the Texas Tribune.

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