Thiel College Athletics

Merkel was named the women's lacrosse head coach in August 2021. Merkel served as the first ever assistant women’s lacrosse coach for the Tomcats during the 2020-21 season. She assisted the program in all aspects, including: recruiting, scouting, scheduling, practice- and game-planning, travel accommodations, managing the team’s budget, overseeing volunteer and community service projects and managing social media content. 

In Merkel’s year as the assistant coach, the Tomcats finished best single-season winning percentage in program history and earned a berth in the title game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament. 

Five Tomcats earned All-PAC recognition in 2021, including a pair of First Team honorees. 

The team also excelled in the classroom and was named a 2021 Academic Honor Squad by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) for achieving a grade-point average of at least 3.2. The team featured four individuals who were named to the 2021 IWLCA Division III Academic Honor Roll, including a PAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award recipient, Alex Geraci.

Merkel was also an assistant coach at Johnson and Wales University in Denver, Colo., primarily working with the team’s defense and goalies. 

A native of Littleton, Colo., Merkel played at NCAA Division III Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.) as a freshman. She was part of an Augustana team in 2015 that went 19-2 overall, won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) title and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Merkel went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in recreation, tourism and hospitality with a minor in business administration from the University of Northern Colorado, where she was a member of club women’s lacrosse team for three years. 

Prior to her time at Johnson and Wales University, Merkel was an operations team member for Chuze Fitness and Vasa Fitness. She was a game day operations intern for the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) and served as an assistant athletic director for South Suburban Parks and Recreation.