Tonja Englund, a former prep and collegiate All-American player and a successful Minnesota girls' high school coach, is the new UW-Eau Claire women's basketball coach, athletic director Marilyn Skrivseth announced at a news conference June 12.

Englund replaces Lisa Stone who resigned in April after 12 seasons as head coach to take the head coaching position at Division I Drake.

Englund, 29, has been the head girls' coach at Roseville High School the past six years and this past season had the No. 1-ranked team in the state heading into the Minnesota state tournament. Seven seniors from the Raiders' 22-3 team will go on to play collegiately, two at Division I schools, two at Division II schools and three at Division III schools.

A Twin Cities native, Englund prepped at Hill-Murray High School where she was All-Conference, All-Metro, All-State and All-America. The four-year starter was captain and team MVP as a senior, Hill-Murray Athlete of the Year, MVP of the 1987 Minnesota state tournament and a Ms. Basketball finalist.

Englund started her career on a full scholarship at the University of Wyoming. She earned All-Conference honors as a freshman but after starting there two seasons, returned to her home state to finish her career near her family. She played one semester at Gustavus Adolphus, then transferred to St. Thomas where she helped the Tommies win the 1991 NCAA Division III national championship.

During the nearly two seasons Englund was at St. Thomas, the Tommies produced a 53-3 overall record. She earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and MIAC Academic All-Conference honors. She was a team captain and MVP and was accorded NCAA Division III All-American honors in addition to being named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team. Englund earned her bachelor's degree in physical education and coaching in 1994 and then received her master's degree in athletic administration from St. Thomas in May of 1998.

Englund has some collegiate coaching experience, spending one season as the first assistant at Gustavus Adolphus. Her coaching experience also includes two seasons as a JV coach and two summers with an AAU 16 team. She has been a coach/counselor at the Gustie Basketball Camp in St. Peter, Minn., and has directed her own basketball camp at Roseville since 1994.

At Eau Claire, she will also be an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Athletics.