Winona State University head women’s golf coach Erika Vail is in her third season leading the Warrior Golf team. She took over a women’s golf program at Winona State which has finished first or second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference every year for the last 12 years.
In just her first season as head coach, Vail led the Warriors to a third place finish in the NSIC in 2008-09. The Warriors advanced to the NCAA Super Region Three Tournament where they finished tied for fifth. Vail coached a medalist (Megan Placko) for the Warriors in the regional in addition to coaching two All-NSIC selections (Courtney Sovereign and Michelle Narveson) who finished the three-day NSIC Tournament in second place (Sovereign) shooting a 316 and in eighth place (Narveson) shooting a 323.
Before being named the head coach, Vail was an assistant for the Warriors for two seasons.
Vail helped the Warriors finish in third place in the NSIC Championships in 2007-08. A Warrior (Megan Placko) finished tied for third in the NSIC individual championships and earned NSIC All-Tournament First Team recognition.
In the 2006-07 season Vail helped the Warriors finish second in the NSIC. That same season Vail helped a Warrior (Morgan Proshek) win the NSIC individual championship and earn NSIC Player of the Year honors. Two Warriors (Proshek and Nikki Wilson) were named to the NSIC All-Tournament First Team.
Vail competed for the Warriors as an All-American in golf from 1998 to 2002. Vail is a member of a 1998 Warriors’ team which won the NSIC Championship. In 1999 Vail helped the Warriors’ golf team finish second in the NSIC in team standings and earned second place in the NSIC individual championships as well as All-NSIC recognition. Vail and the Warriors finished in second place in the NSIC in 2000 with Vail winning the NSIC individual championship to qualify for the national championships. In 2001 Vail earned her third straight All-NSIC award after finishing in second place in the NSIC individual championships, helping the Warriors place second overall for the third consecutive season.
Vail has numerous wins and top 10 finishes in her golfing career both collegiately and in amateur events. She has been running and organizing various golf events for 10 years.
Vail graduated from Winona State University in 2002 with two degrees: a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Along with being the women’s golf coach, Vail is a College Laboratory Specialist at Winona State University. Vail has been published in Nucleic Acid Research Journal and has written many grants accepted by the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture for funding on various research proposals.
Vail lives in Winona, MN with her husband John and their sons John Jr. and Mikah.
