Coach Donna J. Newberry, 1952-2010, profoundly influenced generations of Muskingum students. She served the University for 36 years as a professor of health and physical education, coach of softball, basketball, and field hockey, assistant athletic director and director of intramural programs. She was the only coach in the history of our nation to be named National Coach of the Year in two sports – softball and basketball.
She led Muskingum to its first-ever NCAA national championship, winning the 2001 softball title. Her softball teams perennially ranked in the national top-25, and she coached Muskingum to 18 OAC Championships, 18 NCAA Regional appearances, and to eight NCAA Division III World Series appearances. She was one of the first Division III coaches ever to be inducted into the National Fastpitch Softball Hall of Fame. Newberry was named OAC Coach of the Year 10 times, and she and her staff were named Regional Coaching Staff of the Year seven times. In 2009, she became the first coach in NCAA Division III history to achieve 900 career victories in a single sport, and only the twenty-fifth coach across all NCAA divisions to achieve 900 victories in a single sport.
Coach Newberry also earned 403 victories and five Ohio Athletic Conference championships as head coach of women's basketball. Newberry was named OAC Coach of the Year three times. She led her basketball team to a second-place national finish in 1991. She was the only Division III coach to win more than 400 games in two sports and was an active leader in regional, state, and national athletic associations.
Newberry graduated from Glenville State (W.Va.) College in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. She earned her master's degree in physical education from Ohio University in 1974. She was posthumously inducted into the Muskingum Hall of Fame and Glenville State Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
She often embarked on challenging educational journeys to the far corners of the earth, motivating her students to develop personal attributes for success. Newberry shared her insights and experiences in her autobiographical book, From the Pit to the Pinnacle: A Coach's Life Journey, co-authored with Muskingum Professor of English Jane Varley.
