McKendree University head softball coach Heather Tarter has announced the hiring of Mady Poulter as an assistant coach with the Bearcat softball program for the 2021-22 school year.
Prior to coming to McKendree, Poulter worked as a graduate assistant for Development at her alma mater, Eastern Illinois University, the past two years. Along with working as a graduate assistant at EIU, Poulter also has served as an assistant coach since 2020 with the 16-&-Under and 18-&-Under Premier Fastpitch programs located in Mattoon, Ill.
Along with working as a graduate assistant in development, she also spent the spring of 2021 working as an intern to the Athletic Media Relations Department and was also an intern in the fall of 2020 to the athletic operations department.
Before working in collegiate athletics at Eastern Illinois, Poulter was a four-year letterwinner from 2015-19 as an infielder for the Panthers softball program. Along with being a student-athlete, she was a member of the Student-Athlete Advistory Committee from 2017-19 and was the Vice President of the Kinesiology & Sports Studies-Sport Management Association.
As a player at EIU, Poulter played in and started 213 career games and those 213 games played is fifth on the school’s all-time chart, while the 213 starts are second all-time in school history. In addition, she scored 101 runs as a Panther and those 101 runs ranks eighth all-time in school history and her 79 career walks is second on the school’s career charts.
In her senior season in 2019, she started all 55 games for the Panthers at second base and finished the year with a .204 average as she recorded 28 hits, seven doubles, one home run and scored 24 runs and had 7 RBI on the year. Had six games with two or more hits and tallied a .930 fielding percentage with 99 putouts and 86 assists.
During her junior season in 2018, she was one of two Panthers to play in all 56 games at second base. Hit .271 with 46 hits, including nine doubles and a team-best five triples. In addition, she led the team in walks with 36 and posted 14 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games. Finished the season with a fielding percentage of .975 as she had 100 putouts and 57 assists.
As a sophomore in 2017, she was named an Ohio Valley Conference Medal of Honor winner and on the field, she was one of three Panthers to start all 49 games and finished the year with a .239 batting average as she had 32 hits, including four doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI.
In her first season as a Panther in 2016, she played in every game as she split time between second and third base and was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team. On the season, she hit .213 with 27 hits, scored 17 runs and drove home 11 runs, while recording 72 assists, which was second-most on the team. Her first career hit was a two-RBI triple in the season opener against IUPUI.
Poulter, who is a native of St. Joseph, Ill., prepped at St. Joseph-Ogden High School and in her high school career, she was a two-sport athlete as she played both basketball and softball. She earned numerous honors, including Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove and First-Team All-Conference. In addition, she was a two-time All-Area selection and a First-Team All-State selection as a senior. Was a member of the school’s third place team in the State Softball Tournament as a freshman and also was a member of four straight regional title teams and a fourth place finish in the state her senior year. In the classroom, was a four-time Academic Letter honoree and the News Gazette and WCIA-TV Player of the Year.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Sport Studies from Eastern Illinois in 2019 and received her Master of Science in Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation from Eastern Illinois in 2021.
