Penn State women’s hockey has promoted Makenna Newkirk to an associate head coach, the team announced on Thursday.

Newkirk is entering her fourth year on the women’s hockey staff, after helping lead the team to two AHA and one CHA conference championships. She has played an instrumental role in player development, helping produce AHA Players of the Year, AHA Forwards of the Year, and a CHA Rookie of the Year.

“Makenna has many qualities of a strong leader — her work ethic and creativity being impactful ones. However, in my opinion, her greatest quality is the passion she exudes when developing our Penn State players. Makenna is a proven winner and I couldn’t be more excited for her elevation to associate head coach within our program,” said head coach Jeff Kampersal.

Newkirk joined the Nittany Lions after spending the 2021-22 season with Brown women’s hockey, where the team finished with its best record in the last five seasons.

The Scottsdale, Arizona, native was a two-time team captain at Boston College and finished her collegiate career fifth in the program’s all-time points with 189, sixth in goals with 73, and third in assists with 116.

She also played for the USA Hockey U22 National team and was the seventh overall draft pick in the 2019 NWHL Draft, where she played two seasons with the New Hampshire Region.