Head field hockey coach Christine Hutchison completed her 21st season with the program in 2024—19th as head coach.
At Eastern, Hutchison has coached more years and matches (329) and has compiled more wins (120) than any previous coach in program history, with the seventh match of the 2023 season having represented her 300th match as Eastern's head coach.
In 2024, three Eastern players netted All-Little East recognition: first-team defender Aly Kendrick, second-team forward Emma Sanson and second-team midfielder Liz LaMarco. Sanson equalled the fifth-highest goal total in a season with 11 in 2024, equalling the eighth-most in the Little East. Senior goalie Kiana Webster posted the second-highest goals-against average (2.21) in the LEC in 2024.
Eastern enjoyed its finest season in program history in the fall of 2021, sharing second place in the final Little East Conference standings, and as the No. 3 playoff seed, winning its first Little East Conference championship that qualified it for a first NCAA tournament appearance, and ultimately setting numerous records, among those for overall (14) and Little East (9) wins and overall winning percentage (70.0).
Individually in 2021, seniors Bryce Makula and Brianna Nolan were named to the NFHCA Region II All-Region Team as second-team picks. Nolan was also named LEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year and was joined as a first-team All-LEC selection by Makula and by third-team pick Kendrick, a first-year member of the program.
For Eastern under Hutchison, academics are a priority. Nineteen years have produced an average of 8.5 (161 total) NFHCA Academic Squad qualifiers each year, with a record 15 earning a spot on the team in 2019 (minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 through the fall), 14 in 2024, 13 in 2021 (with four of them earning the honor for the fourth time), and 12 in 2020. Since 2014, there have been 24 NFHCA Scholar of Distinction designations (3.90 cumulative GPA through the fall) with 2018 graduate Katy Jankura a four-time honoree and a record five players gaining the honor in 2024. For seven straight years beginning in 2014, the squad earned an NFHCA Academic Team Award for having a composite team GPA of at least 3.30 during the fall semester.
In 18 years of the LEC All-Academic program, Eastern has been represented by 113 student-athletes (6.3 per year), 56 of them having qualified the last six years (9.3 per year).
As a collegian, Hutchison played four seasons (1996-99) of field hockey at Division III University of Mary Washington, where she was named to the STX/NFHCA Division III All-South Region team and to the NFHCA North-South Senior All-Star Game as a senior midfielder in 1999. At Mary Washington, Hutchison was also a two-time, first-team All-Capital Athletic Conference all-star and graduated as the program’s all-time leader with 24 assists. As a senior in the fall of 1999, Hutchison led the team in points (26) and assists (12).
Hutchison earned her B.S. Degree in Mathematic from Mary Washington and her M.S. in Organizational Management from Eastern. Hutchison resides with her family in Preston.
