Courtesy of Navy Athletics Communications
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Kylee Sullivan, who has spent the last two seasons on the Midshipmen coaching staff, has been named the interim head women's golf coach at the Naval Academy, Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced today.
Since arriving in Annapolis in the summer of 2021 as an assistant coach to the now-retired Nadia Ste-Marie, Sullivan has helped the Mids earn five team tournament titles and four All-Patriot League selections while also setting multiple program records, including a program-low 303.9 season scoring average in 2022-23 and a team-low 896 score at the 2023 Patriot League Championship.
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead this great group of women and to continue the success Coach Ste-Marie cultivated over the past decade," said Sullivan. "I'm grateful for the support and confidence of Mr. Gladchuk and the Navy athletic department. I am honored to be a part of such a prestigious institution and its athletic programs. Go Navy!"
In her second year at Navy, Sullivan helped steer the Mids to the program-record 303.9 season scoring average, as Navy collected a program-best four team titles and two individual medalist honors. Under Sullivan and Ste-Marie, the 2022-23 edition of the Mids set program records for individual 54-hole score, individual 36-hole score, individual low round, team low round, team 54-hole score and team 36-hole score. The season also saw
Mara Hirtle become the first Midshipman with multiple tournament wins in her collegiate career and lower her career scoring average to the second lowest in program history. Additionally, Hirtle racked up All-Patriot League Second Team honors with a ninth-place finish at the Patriot League Championship, while Navy collectively shot the lowest league championship score in program history at 32-over par 896.
During her first season in 2021-22, Sullivan helped lead the Midshipmen to a third-place finish at the 2022 Patriot League Championship with a three-round score of 76-over par 940, and was a crucial piece in guiding the Mids to a team scoring average of 309.4, the third-best average for a season in team history. Opening the 2021-22 regular season by winning the Bucknell Invitational, Navy's 45-over par 885 was the then-best score for a 54-hole tournament in program history. For the efforts accrued under the direction of Sullivan, three Mids earned All-Patriot League recognition, including Angelina Chan being named a first-team honoree for the second-straight season, while the pairing of Hirtle and
Stephanie Lee earned second-team honors.
Sullivan joined the Mids' coaching staff after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach for the Ferris State men's and women's golf programs. Additionally, Sullivan served as the interim head coach of the Bulldogs' men's and women's golf programs beginning in November 2020.
During her tenure at Ferris State, Sullivan helped guide the Bulldog golf programs to a combined 21 top-five finishes in addition to capturing the 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Men's Golf Championship. Additionally, under the tutelage of Sullivan, eight Bulldog student-athletes garnered All-GLIAC recognition.
As a student-athlete, Sullivan was a member of the Oakland University women's golf program, where she garnered Second Team All-Horizon League honors as a senior and tied the school record for the lowest individual round with a 68 when she shot a 54-hole, career-best score of 221 at the Spring Break Shootout during the 2018-19 season.
As a junior in 2017-18, she tied for third at the Horizon League Championship after shooting a 229 and became the first Oakland player since 2003 to win multiple tournament titles in the same season. Sullivan finished her collegiate career ranking fifth in program history in all-time scoring average (78.67)
In addition to her accomplishments on the course, Sullivan was named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll four times and garnered Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar Team honors twice.