Kathy Niepagen was named women's golf coach at Illinois Wesleyan on January 20, 1997, and has been an aggressive and vital addition to the athletic program.

Her teams have won College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and, in May, the Titans finished eighth in the national 2005 NCAA Division III championships as Taylor Paskell was 17th and Alison Mayer tied for 26th. The Titans were sixth in the national meet in 2000 and, in just her third year of coaching, Niepagen was named the Division III national women's golf "Coach of the Year." She served as the tournament director for the 2000 championships, hosted at Bloomington's Prairie Vista Golf Course.

Illinois Wesleyan was also in the 2002 Division III national tournament, placing 10th as a team, and have been represented by two players as individuals - Gail Nelson finished eighth as an individual in 2003, and Stephanie Morton placed 47th in the 2004 Division III meet.

Niepagen, a native of Bloomington and graduate of Central Catholic High School and Illinois State University, is an avid golfer and a regular participant in women's city championship tournaments. She worked at Bloomington's Highland Park Golf Course for eight years and also worked at Inverrary Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Niepagen is married to six-time Bloomington-Normal city golf champion Frank Niepagen.