Iris Williamson is named Shipley girls’ lacrosse head coach

Lower Merion >> The Shipley School has announced the hiring of Iris Williamson as its new girls’ varsity lacrosse head coach.

A familiar face to the Friends Schools League, Williamson graduated from Germantown Friends School as a four-year letterwinner in soccer, lacrosse, and two-year letterwinner in basketball and indoor-track and field respectively.

As an attacker (2012-2016) for the University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team, Williamson was a part of the 2013, 2014, 2016 Ivy League Championship winning team and went on to four NCAA Tournament runs, making it to the quarter-finals of the NCAA tournament in 2016 against Penn State.

Williamson ended her Penn career in 2016 second on team in goals (37) and points (46) and had a career-high nine assists to round out the season. She graduated with a total of 126 career points, 13th-most all-time by a Quaker. She graduated with 103 career goals, No. 9 all-time at Penn, having started all 20 games and in nine games netting three or more goals.

Williamson was Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association (IWLCA) second-team All-Region and first-team All-Ivy in 2016, and on the Ivy League Tournament All-Tournament Team in 2015.

In addition to playing lacrosse for the Quakers, Williamson served as a mentor and coach to students at Comegy’s Middle School in West Philadelphia, for the Netter Center For Community Partnership’s Young Quakers Program, spending her time volunteering and working with young girls of color to expose them to athletics, higher education, and wellness. She continues to foster that relationship post-college.

Williamson was previously a head JV girls’ soccer coach and an assistant varsity lacrosse coach at the Taft School. As an assistant varsity lacrosse coach, she helped guide the team in 2017 to a 12-3 season. In 2018 she helped coach the team to a 7-7 season with tough one-goal losses to Canterbury School, Choate Rosemary Hall, and The Loomis Chaffee School. She has helped lead trips to Clearwater, Fla. and fostered volunteer partnerships students at Judson Elementary School in Watertown, Conn.

At Shipley, Williamson will be teaching Middle School English as well as serving as the new varsity girls’ lacrosse coach, taking over the duties from Molly Fernandez, who guided the Gators squad to the FSL title game in the spring of 2018 and also in 2016.