Sean Claussen served on the Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse coaching staff under Kelsey MacDonald and Julia Decker. Now, it is Claussen’s turn to lead the Skyhawks.
FLC named Claussen the team’s head coach Tuesday. He will replace Decker, who resigned in June after three seasons.
“I have been part of the program for a long time as an assistant,” Claussen said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “I’m very excited to get to lead such a great group of student-athletes.”
Claussen, who is from Denver and attended Regis Jesuit High School before attending Fort Lewis College, was an assistant coach on the staff from the 2011 to 2015 seasons. He was in charge of goalies and the defenders.
Claussen remained in Durango after leaving the college staff in January of 2016. He coached youth teams in town last season and assisted with the Durango High School team when time permitted.
“This definitely has been my dream job for this time of my life,” he said. “After leaving the program, I knew this is what I wanted to be and get back to. I stayed in Durango and connected to the community hoping to get my shot at some point. I’m thankful everything worked out the way it has.”
Claussen will inherit a team that went 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last season. The FLC program largely remained stagnant the last three seasons while the conference has improved as a whole with national powerhouse Lindenwood University leading the charge and Regis also prominent in national polls each year.
“It’s a great time to be involved in the RMAC,” Claussen said. “It’s gotten over the growing pains and has added a great set of institutions to the conference. I am excited to start recruiting great student-athletes for our program that will be a good fit for our team, school and community of Durango.
“We’re going to be competitive again. Not that we haven’t been in the past. Under coach MacDonald we were at the top of the RMAC, and I would like to get there again and stay.”
Claussen said he hopes to recruit at least one more goalie before the 2018 season with only one currently on the roster. He said he also plans on adding an offensive-minded assistant coach to compliment his defense background.
Claussen is a 2016 graduate of FLC with a degree in exercise science.
“I think being a student here and having competed for the men’s club lacrosse team, I do have a passion for the school,” he said. “It will help me recruit and sell the program and school to prospective student-athletes. Everyone who lives here knows how awesome of a town Durango is, and there is nowhere else I’d rather live.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
