Tabor resigns; Wilson named coach
5/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Tabor resigns; Wilson named coach
Resignation of program's first coach effective June 30
ABILENE -- Carol Tabor, the ACU head softball coach since the program's inception in 1997, has resigned and will be replaced by former ACU player Chantiel Wilson, who spent the 2003 season as Tabor's assistant coach.
In her resignation letter to interim directors of athletics Jared Mosley and Wally Bullington, Tabor cited a growing medical concern with her eyesight as the reason for her resignation, which is effective June 30.
"Due to an excessive amount of time in the sun and weather elements over the last eight years, I have developed a medical condition called Pterygium (warping of the cornea) in my right eye with my left eye in the beginning stages of the same condition," Tabor said.
Wilson just completed her first year as an assistant coach to Tabor. She is one of the outstanding players in ACU's short softball history, earning first team all-Lone Star Conference South Division and first team all-region honors at shortstop in 1997 and 1998.
She was also named the LSC South Division MVP in ACU's inaugural season of 1997. She is the career leader in stolen bases (23), total bases (183) and assists (297). She's also the single-season leader in batting average (.460 in 1997), runs scored (62 in 1997), hits (86 in 1997), total bases (102 in 1997), stolen bases (18 in 1997) and at-bats (187 in 1997).
She still holds single-game records for doubles in a game (2 vs. Northwood on Feb. 28, 1997), stolen bases in a game (3 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma on March 8, 1997) and assists in a game (10 vs. Northwood on March 14, 1998).
She graduated from ACU in 1999 with a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies, and then received her Master's of Education in May 2002 from National University. She is married to former ACU baseball player Casey Wilson.
"I'm honored to have this opportunity," Wilson said of her promotion to head coach. "Carol has built a solid foundation for this program, and I just want to carry that forward and continue the culture that we've started here at ACU."
Tabor resigns after serving as the head softball coach for the first seven years of the program's existence, compiling an overall record of 172-166, including 24-31 in 2003. Tabor led the Wildcats to Lone Star Conference South Division championships in 1997 and 2000. She was also named Lone Star Conference South Division Coach of the Year in each of those years.
Tabor joined the athletics staff in 1995 and was a two-sport letterman at ACU before receiving a B.B.A. degree in business in 1989 and M.Ed. degree in education in 1990.
She played tennis and basketball for the Wildcats, earned all-America honors in tennis, finished national runner-up in NCAA Division II women's doubles and later served as assistant tennis coach for two years at Abilene Christian. Tabor has also served as director of alumni activities at ACU and as a real estate professional.
She is a 1983 graduate of Carlsbad, N.M., High School, where she earned 14 varsity letter awards and later was elected to the Carlsbad High School Sports Hall of Fame. She won state championships in softball (three total state titles in softball) and tennis on the same day and was featured in Sports Illustrated.
"I will forever be indebted to this university ... the administration, faculty, staff and, most of all, to the young women who have participated in our program," Tabor said. "It has been an honor to start and build a collegiate sports program for people that I love at a place that I cherish. I have experienced pure joy in every moment of each day spent; therefore, words cannot adequately express the love and gratitude I feel."
