Softball Coaching Staff
Shanda Ness, Head Coach
Ness, who guided Gustavus Adolphus College to 164 wins in eight seasons, enters her second season as softball coach at Cornell College. The Rams finished 11-20 in Ness' first season at the helm in 2007.
Ness' first team at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minn., went 9-20. She helped build the program and finished with five consecutive 20-win seasons and one conference championship.
“I’ll be drawing on my years of experience at Gustavus Adolphus and I hope to be able to build a program at Cornell as well,” Ness said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to coach in the Iowa Conference and I really think Cornell has a bright future ahead of it.”
Ness earned a bachelor of science degree in health, physical education and recreation from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., in 1993. She received a master of arts degree in teaching from Northern State in 1994. From 1994-97, Ness coached and taught at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., where she started the softball program. From 1997-2005, she coached and taught at Gustavus Adolphus. Ness was assistant athletic director at Camp Laurel in Readfield, Maine, during the summer of 2005 before taking the job as recreation coordinator for the city of Waterville (Maine) in August 2005.
Ness was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2003. She has been an assistant volleyball coach at Cornell the past two years and held similar positions at Dakota Wesleyan and Gustavus Adolphus. Ness has 10 years of experience as an instructor for physical education and health science courses.
Ness also serves as Senior Women's Administrator at Cornell.
Courtney Agness, Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach
Agness begins her second season as assistant coach for Cornell. She is also the head varsity softball coach at Benton (Iowa) Community, and has had previous coaching stints as an assistant at West Liberty (Iowa) High School from 2002-04 and a volunteer assistant at Mount Mercy from 2005-06. She graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. While a player at Iowa Wesleyan she was named all-conference in 2002 as a pitcher and in 2005 at second base. Agness was awarded the team MVP and coach’s award in 2005 and was an all-region selection in 2003. A 2001 graduate of Rock Island (Ill.) High School, Agness was named all-conference and all-Metro in 2000 and 2001.
Jill Hopper, Assistant Coach
Hopper, a 2007 graduate of Cornell, begins her first season as an assistant on the Rams' softball coaching staff. Hopper earned four varsity letters each in softball and volleyball and lettered one year in basketball at Cornell. She was named Cornell's Female Athlete of the Year in 2007.
Hopper, a native of Springfield, Ill., and 2003 graduate of Lanphier High School, served as an assistant volleyball coach for the Rams in 2007. She earned a degree in geology and environmental science in spring 2007. Hopper currently works as a lab instructor in the geology department and is the coordinator of the Brackett House at Cornell.
April Elsbernd, Assistant Coach
Elsbernd, a 2003 graduate of Coe College, enters her first season as an assistant softball coach at Cornell. A native of Calmar, Elsbernd enjoyed a successful softball playing career at South Winneshiek High School. She was named Class 2A Third Team All-State as a sophomore and selected to the Class 1A Second Team as a senior. Elsbernd helped lead South Winneshiek to 88 wins during her career, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in the 1A state tournament her senior season.
Elsbernd earned a degree in sociology and communications from Coe. She was a four-year varsity letterwinner on the Kohawks' volleyball team from 1999-2002 and still holds several school records. Elsbernd also played softball one year at Coe.
Elsbernd worked in the student life office at Cornell from 2003-06 whie helping as an assistant coach on Cornell's volleyball team for two years. She served as an assistant volleyball coach at Western Technical College in La Crosse, Wis., in 2006. Elsbernd returned to Cornell's volleyball staff as an assistant in 2007.
Scott Goolsby, Assistant Coach
Goolsby enters his first season as an assistant softball coach at Cornell. He has helped coach ASA Softball for 10 years and served as a junior high and high school assistant coach at Solon for three years. Goolsby is a 1977 graduate of Plainwell (Mich.) High School and attended Kalamazoo Community College in Kalamazoo, Mich. He currently is a Lieutenant of the Iowa City Fire Department. Goolsby resides in Ely with his wife, Cindy. The couple have three children, Ashley, 25, Tanner, 20, and Carly, 19, who is a freshman catcher on Cornell's softball team.
