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Shawn Semler

  semler@southwestmsu.edu 507-537-7264

        Shawn Semler begins his fifth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State in 2008.  Semler, a two-time NSIC Coach of the Year, has led the SMSU softball team to three regular season conference championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances under his helm.
    In his first season at SMSU, Semler led the Mustangs to their first NSIC regular season title since the 1999 season.  He has a 123-81 record in four seasons at SMSU and a 293-179 record overall in 10 years of coaching at the collegiate level.
    In 2007, SMSU finished with a 38-13 overall record and a 16-2 conference record, claimed the NSIC tournament championship title and became NSIC regular season Co-Champions.  He also led the Mustangs to their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance as they earned the region's No. 3 seed and won their first two games at the regional tournament.
    Over the course of the 2007 season Semler led SMSU to achieve many milestones.  SMSU was ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll (NFCA) for the first time since becoming NCAA Division II in 1996.  It also broke the NSIC consecutive win record, winning 30 straight conference games, broke the school record for home runs in a single game with six and had two players become the school career record holders for strikeouts and home runs.
    Semler has coached SMSU's first ever NCAA All-Region players.  In both the 2006 and 2007 seasons he had one player earn first team NFCA All-Region honors and one individual earn second team All-Region accolades.
    In 2006, he guided SMSU to a 41-12 overall record and a 14-0 NSIC finish to claim the conference title for the second time under his helm.  He also led the Mustangs to make their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance as the region’s No. 2 seed.  In 2004, he also led his team to a successful finish as they went 22-31 overall and had a 14-2 NSIC record earning the conference title.  The Mustangs finished 2005 with a 22-25 overall record and a 6-8 mark in conference play.  
     Semler, who became the ninth head coach in SMSU history, spent six years at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska posting an overall record of 170-98 (.634).  Semler has also spent four years as the head softball coach at Marian High School (Neb).
     A native of Bellevue, Neb., Semler led the College of St. Mary (Neb.) to a 35-9 overall record in 2003, winning the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference title before losing in the NAIA IV regional finals to Midland Lutheran.  The team received national ranking three of his last four seasons.
     Prior to his coaching career, Semler received his bachelor’s degree in secondary physical education and special education at Peru State College (Neb.) in 1991. He was a four year starter of the Peru State baseball team, where he was the first player to be named to an All-American team in school history.  In 2000, Semler then received his master’s degree at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. in computer technology.  He began his coaching career at Bellevue East High School where he took over the reigns of a struggling program (4-20 his first season). After Semler implemented Bellevue’s first girls’ fastpitch summer organization for high school players, the Chieftains showed signs of improvement moving to a mark of 14-16 in Semler’s third season.
     At Marian High School, Semler was the head softball coach while also teaching physical education, weightlifting and computer application classes.  During his stay at Marian HS, he helped the Crusaders to a 83-53 record including State Final Top Ten ranking three of the four seasons.
     Semler lives in Marshall with his wife, Dani and son, Toby.