Washington & Jefferson College Athletics

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Marissa (McDaniel) Rush enters her ninth year as the Presidents' head coach in the 2025-26 academic year. 

W&J finished 13-18 overall (8-12 PAC) in the 2025 season. The Presidents earned four All-PAC selections, highlighted by shortstop Hannah Allen who posted a career year. Allen ranked among the Division III Top 50 in three categories and topped the PAC in OPS and doubles.

Rush was recently recognized with the Jimmy Montecalvo and Luke Blanock Memorial Courage Award at the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in banquet June of 2024.

The Presidents finished with a 9-11 conference mark and a 12-18 overall record during the 2024 season. Four Presidents earned All-PAC honors including sophomore outfielder Kyra Blauth on First Team. The season was highlighted by a doubleheader sweep of then two-time defending PAC champion Waynesburg University on April 9.

W&J went 12-20 overall and 4-14 during PAC action in 2023. Peyton Eckenrode and Julia DiPietro-Harvey earned All-PAC laurels. The Presidents finished 7-11 in PAC play and 11-15 overall in 2022. A pair of Presidents earned all-conference honors at the conclusion of the season. 

The Presidents compiled a 9-7 conference mark and a 17-15-1 overall record in 2021. Rush led W&J to its first appearance in the PAC Tournament since 2015. The Presidents recorded a season-high eight game winning streak from April 17 through April 24. Peyton Eckenrode and Sarah Labbe both were named to the All-PAC First Team. 

Rush guided the Presidents to a 17-21 overall record and a 7-9 league mark during the 2019 season. Senior shortstop Rachel Johnson and junior third baseman Brooke Lapia earned First Team and Second Team honors, respectively. Johnson earned further recognition with All-American honors from Fastpitch News for a second straight season. Johnson became W&J's first NFCA All-Region selection since 2014. Along with those honors, Johnson was voted a Google Cloud Academic All-American from CoSIDA for a second straight year. 

During her first season as head coach in 2018, W&J finished fifth in the PAC with an 8-10 record. Under Rush's guidance, junior Rachel Johnson was recognized with All-American honors by Fastpitch News. Johnson also earned ECAC Division III Rookie of the Year along with First Team honors from both the PAC and the ECAC, along with picking up Google Cloud Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA.

Rush previously served as an intern assistant under former head coach Nicole Vitello for two seasons when W&J won its third Presidents' Athletic Conference championship in 2014 and reached the league's tournament once again in 2015. She returns to Washington after spending the previous two seasons as the head coach at fellow NCAA Division III institution Bluffton University (Ohio).

Rush led the Beavers to a 35-35 overall record in her two seasons at Bluffton, improving upon a 15-22 campaign in 2016 to go 20-13 in 2017. In total, she had five all-conference selections and Josie McElroy was named a two-time, first-team all-region performer by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Over her two seasons, Bluffton had 14 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) All-Academic team selections. Additionally, she was the staff advisor for Bluffton's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

Rush previously spent two years as an Intern Coach at W&J (2014 and 2015). During that time, the Presidents had nine student-athletes chosen all-conference, an All-ECAC selection and an all-region honoree in addition to winning the program's third PAC title and first NCAA Regional appearance in 2014.

Rush is a 2013 graduate of Marietta College, where she was a four-year letter winner, three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection and an all-region choice while earning her degree in Sport Management. She has held internships with PONY baseball, Marietta's athletics department and Maninno's Grand Slam USA, a baseball and softball instructional organization in Ohio, and spent time working with the Pennsylvania Rebellion professional softball team.