A fixture in the Cleveland State dugout for more than a decade, Julie Jones is in her 10th season as the head coach of the Vikings.

Jones has built a program that is successful both on and off the field, putting as much stock in victories as building strong ties with the community.

Her teams have compiled a 206-245-2 overall record while going 64-59 in Horizon League play, finishing in the top three on four occasions. Jones has mentored 26 all-league selections, a league player of the year, two pitchers of the year, a first team Academic All-American and three players who went on to play in the professional ranks.

The Vikings' recent success on the field shows that Jones has the program headed in the right direction. Last year, the team marched to the Horizon League title game in undefeated fashion, only to come up short in a pair of extra-inning nail-biters. In 2003, Cleveland State roared into the league championship game as the sixth seed, only to lose a heartbreaker in the seventh inning. In 2004, the Vikings tied the 1997 squad's record for league victories with 13 while rattling off a school-record 11-game winning streak.

The accomplishments are not limited to the playing field for the 1997 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year. When Jones says she recruits student-athletes, it's not just idle talk. The Vikings have been ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association academic top 20 all 13 years she's been at CSU, including a third-place finish last year when the team posted a 3.533 GPA.

An assistant coach at CSU from 1994-96, she was named interim coach for the 1997 season. All she did that year was direct the Vikings to a 36-11 mark, the MCC tournament championship and the school's first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.

A hard-working, knowledgeable and energetic motivator, Jones became the first full time head coach in the program's history shortly after CSU's magical season came to an end.

An all-region and all-conference selection as a catcher at Baldwin-Wallace College in nearby Berea, she started all four seasons, leading the Yellow Jackets to the 1992 NCAA Tournament. A standout in the classroom as well, she was a two-time National Softball Coaches Association All-American Scholar-Athlete and a three-time academic all-conference selection.

Jones graduated in 1992 with a degree in Speech, Communication & Theater. She was inducted into the B-W Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 2003.

She served as the compliance coordinator at CSU from 1994-97 while completing her master's degree in Communication Theory & Methodology.

In April of 2004, she was awarded a National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators scholarship to attend the NACWAA/HERS Institute for Administrative Advancement. The program provides training for women who actively desire increased administrative responsibilities in intercollegiate athletics.

One of the area's best players while at Akron Garfield High School, her number 9 was retired by the school.

Under Jones, the Vikings also find time to help in the community when they're not studying or practicing. The team earned the Horizon League Community Outreach Award in 2003, `04 & `05 for their work with the Rocky River Adult Training Center through the Cuyahoga County Mental Retardation Board and for organizing a Strike Out Cancer promotion in conjunction with the Horizon League Championship.

A member of the NCAA Regional Softball Committee, she also serves on the Women's Athletic Alumni Association Board of Directors at B-W.

Jones resides in Berea.