Former SIUE Softball Coach Inducted Into Hall of Fame

The NFCA inducted Montgomery at the 2022 NFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. She was be joined Harvard Head Coach Jenny Allard, SIU Carbondale Head Coach Kerri Blaylock and Sheldon (Sacramento, California) High School Coach Mary Jo Truesdale.

Montgomery retired from SIUE in 2018 after a legendary coaching and playing career at SIUE. The longest-tenured softball head coach in school history completed her coaching career with a record of 1,051-540-2 for a winning percentage of .660. She is the first softball coach in Ohio Valley Conference history to earn this honor.

The 2006 team set the school standard for victories under Montgomery with 52 and advanced to the NCAA final eight.

One year later, Montgomery led the Cougars to a national championship. The 2007 team walked off the field in Akron, Ohio, with the program's only national championship trophy and would later be inducted into the SIUE Athletics Hall of Fame.

After the 2008 season, Montgomery shepherded the program through the transition from Division II to Division I. The Cougars won 40 games in their first season of Division I competition (2009) and won the OVC in 2014, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Montgomery first came to SIUE in the fall of 1981 as a student-athlete under Head Coach Cindy Jones. She was inducted into the SIUE Athletics Hall of Fame as a player after setting many of the school records for pitching. While coaching all of the players who would go on to break her records, she continues to hold the record for the lowest earned run average in a career (0.85) and shutouts (42).

She also served as a Cougars associate director of athletics and helped lead the department from the NCAA Division II ranks to NCAA Division I membership in 2008. Montgomery made a lasting impact on the SIUE softball program, overseeing a major renovation of Cougar Field and the building of the Fulginiti Indoor Facility.

Montgomery's Accomplishments at SIUE

NCAA Division I Tournament Appearances – 2014

Great Lakes Regional Champions - 2006, 2007

NCAA-II Tournament Appearances - 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Conference Titles - 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014

Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season Titles – 2015

National Coaching Staff of the Year – 2007

Regional Coaching Staff of the Year - 2003, 2006, 2007

Conference Coach of the Year - 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2015 

11 All-Americans since 1989

57 All-Region players since 1989

79 All-Conference players since 1995

50-win seasons - 2002, 2006

40-win seasons - 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2017

30-win seasons - 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2013, 2014

14 straight 30-win seasons - 1996-2009