Katie Simonson begins her fiffh season as an assistant coach for the Falcons.
Simonson (formerly Benson) starred on the basketball court for Seattle Pacific for four years, helping the Falcons reach four Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournaments and one NCAA West Regionals.
Not only is Simonson familiar with the Falcons and the GNAC, she’s familiar with coaching. Prior to returning to SPU, she spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at her alma mater of Snohomish High School, 29 miles north of the SPU campus. During her time there, the Panthers finished second at the state tournament in 2016 and third in 2017.
For Simonson, it was going from one alma mater to her other one.
“What I loved about coaching at Snohomish and now coaching here is there is a tradition of excellence – not just winning, but high-character programs,” she said. “Those situations are really special, and I wanted to be part of that at Snohomish, and now here.”
In 111 games from 2011-14, the 6-foot-2 Simonson averaged 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and was a two-time All-GNAC first team selection. She also earned Academic All-America honors as a senior in 2014. She works with the Falcon bigs.