After 36 seasons at the helm of Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s softball program, Jeana Howald is stepping away from the dugout. A fixture on and off the field at MVNU, Howald is leaving behind a legacy defined by far more than wins and losses.
Her journey with MVNU began before the university went by its current name. As a student at Mount Vernon Nazarene College (MVNC), Howald competed in volleyball, basketball and tennis before graduating in 1982. Six years later, she returned to the university as a coach and educator. She initially led the women’s basketball team while also coaching softball, before transitioning solely to softball in 1989.
Though she never played collegiate softball herself due to MVNU not yet having an established team, Howald helped with the transition from slow-pitch to fast-pitch and shaped generations of athletes along the way.
“Coaching is coaching — you hit the ball, you field the ball, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” Howald said. “But it’s those times when you get the opportunity to speak into people’s lives — that’s probably been the most rewarding thing for me.”
Photo submitted by: MVNU
For MVNU athletic director Chip Wilson, Howald’s impact has been personal. He has worked closely with Howald since becoming athletic director in 2018, but also praises her leadership as MVNU’s Senior Woman Administrator.
“Her consistency, her willingness to help in any situation, those are things we’re really going to miss,” Wilson said. “She’s a servant-leader, and her impact reaches far beyond athletics. She’s made a difference behind the scenes in so many ways.”
Under Howald’s leadership, MVNU softball navigated multiple conference changes and grew in stature.
But for Howald, the evolution of the program and the department never changed the mission. That philosophy helped guide Howald through nearly four decades of growth and change—not only in sports but in the lives of her athletes.
“This has not been done by me alone by any stretch of the imagination,” Howald said. “I have had incredible assistant coaches, specialty coaches, and people who poured into this program. I definitely would not be at this place in retirement, nor would this program be where it is if it hadn’t been for those people.”
After her years of service to MVNU, Howald is trading Ohio’s unpredictable weather for Florida sunshine. For the first time in many years, she’ll live near her family, and she’s looking forward to this next phase of life.
Photo submitted by: MVNU
“It’s been an absolute blessing for me to be at MVNU,” she said. “For 36 years, I’ve woken up in the morning never thinking, ‘Oh no, I have to go to work.’ I’ve always been excited. That’s rare, and that’s beautiful.”
As Howald steps into retirement, her presence will be deeply missed, but her legacy will continue to influence MVNU athletics for years to come.
“She’s someone you could always count on,” Wilson said. “Jeana leaves behind more than a program, she leaves behind a standard.”To learn more about MVNU and the softball program, visit their website.
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