Heather Tarr Position: Head Coach Experience: Fourth Season Alma Mater: Washington, 1998

Tarr news and features:
• Q & A with coach Heather Tarr - gohuskies.com (Oct. 6, 2004)
• UW softball puts on a new face - Seattle PI (July 7, 2004)
• UW names Tarr to head softball program - Tacoma News-Tribune (July 7, 2004)
• Heather Tarr Named Washington Softball Coach - gohuskies.com (July 6, 2004)

Heather Tarr begins her fourth season at the helm of the Husky Softball team after leading the Huskies to the Women's College World Series last year for the first time since 2004. In just three seasons, Tarr has led Washington to three straight Super Regionals and three top-15 national rankings, including a No. 3 finish last season.

Last season, Washington finished tied for third in the Pac-10 and went on to win the Lincoln, Nebraska regional before sweeping Alabama in the Super Regionals in Seattle to advance to the WCWS for the eighth time in school history.

The Huskies defeated DePaul, 3-1, to open the WCWS as sophomore All-American pitcher Danielle Lawrie pitched the 16th no-hitter in WCWS history and the first since 2003. Washington followed that up by defeating Northwestern, 9-0, as Lawrie threw a one-hitter.

Washington then ran into eventual national champion Arizona and lost two games to the Wildcats to finish tied for third in the country.

The Huskies finished the season with a 42-19 record and had three players earn All-America honors. Lawrie and senior first baseman Dena Tyson both were named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA First Team, while junior shortstop Ashley Charters was a second team selection.

The trio of players were also named to the WCWS All-Tournament team, marking the first UW players selected to the team since 2000, and earned All-Pacific Region honors. In addition, Charters, Lawrie, Tyson and three other UW players earned All-Pac-10 honors.

The Huskies tallied 14 wins over opponents ranked in the top-25, including a win on the road at No. 3 Arizona and a pair of wins over No. 2 Alabama in the Super Regionals. Washington also swept the season series with Oregon, which was ranked No. 10 during the two teams first matchup and No. 16 during the final two games, and picked up wins over No. 7 Arizona State, No. 8 Texas, No. 12 UCLA, No. 15/16 Stanford and No. 16 Oregon State. The Huskies also swept a pair of games from No. 6 LSU.

In 2006, Tarr and the Huskies swept through the Provo Regional as a No. 1 seed with tournament MVP Danielle Lawrie not allowing a run in three starts. The Huskies advanced to the Austin Super Regional where they fell to Cat Osterman's Texas Longhorns to just miss out on the WCWS berth.

Junior second baseman Dominique Lastrapes and sophomore utility Ashley Charters each earned third team All-America honors and five players received All-Pac-10 honors.

Washington finished the season with a 35-25 overall record and a No. 15 national ranking. The Huskies tallied 11 wins over opponents ranked in the top-25, including victories over No. 1 UCLA, No. 5 Oregon State and No. 5 Stanford.

In Tarr's first season at the UW, she led the Huskies to the Super Regional where they fell one game short of advancing to the WCWS. The Huskies' season came to an end when they lost a three-game series to eventual national champion Michigan in Ann Arbor and finished the year with a No. 14 national ranking.

Seven Huskies earned All-Pac-10 honors, including Kristen Rivera, who was named Co-Pac-10 Player of the Year. Rivera also became the Huskies' first-ever four-time All-American, earning first team honors as a catcher. Three Washington players earned All-Pacific Region honors and three were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team for their successes in the classroom.

Washington finished the season with a 35-22 record and finished sixth in the Pac-10 Conference with a 10-11 mark after four teams log-jamed in a tie for first place with 13-8 records.

The Huskies tallied 13 wins over opponents ranked in the top-25, including victories over No. 1 Michigan, No. 3 California and No. 4 Stanford.

Before taking over the Washington program, Tarr had a six-year stint at Pacific, starting as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in April of 2004.

During her six seasons at Pacific, the Tigers posted a 232-124 (.652) overall record and 90-44 (.672) mark in the Big West Conference.

In 2004 Tarr guided the Tigers to a top-20 national batting average. In 2001, she and Pacific head coach Brian Kolze were named the 2001 NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Tigers to within one win of the Women's College World Series and a No. 18 final national ranking. That team also finished the season with a .973 fielding percentage, ranking second-best in the country.

Tarr joined Pacific prior to the 1999 season after an outstanding career as a Husky. As a four-year letterwinner, Tarr helped lead the UW to a second place finish at the Women's College World Series in 1996 and a third place finish in 1997.

She earned various honors while playing softball at Washington. A three-year member of the Pac-10 All-Academic team from 1994-97, she was named to the Pac-10 All-Conference team from 1995-97 and the NFCA All-West Region team in 1996 and 1997.

Tarr also worked at Washington as an undergraduate assistant coach during the 1998 season, helping the Huskies to a third-place finish at the 1998 Women's College World Series.

In addition to her collegiate experience, Tarr brings experience from the professional level as she spent the summer of 1997 as a member of the Women's Professional Fastpitch Softball League's Tampa Bay Fire Stix. She was the league leader in fielding percentage for first basemen and also led the league in walks.

Tarr earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from Washington in 1998. She completed her Masters Degree in Education at Pacific in the fall of 2003. Tarr, 33, is a native of Redmond, Wash., and is a graduate of Redmond High School.

The Huskies have been ranked among the top-15 in the final NFCA top-25 national poll in all three seasons under the guidance of head coach Heather Tarr. Last year, Tarr led the Huskies to a No. 3 national ranking.