Though most Washburn sports fans are gearing up for football season, one person new to campus has another sport on her mind.

Head softball coach  Vanessa Becerra is the one of the newest additions to the lineup of coaches at Washburn University. With the resignation of Lisa Carey following the 2011 softball season, Becerra applied for the job in the hopes of coming in and giving the Lady Blues a new leader that has seen prosperity so far in her coaching career.

Before coming to Washburn, Becerra had success in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at Metro State University, located in the Denver, Colo., area. As part of the staff from 2008-11 and eventually serving as the interim head coach in her final season, the Roadrunners finished with a record of 159-54, including two conference titles and a trip to the Division II national tournament in her final season there.

Now that she is at Washburn, Becerra sees her experiences recruiting at Metro State as helpful to her role in Topeka.

“The talent [in Denver] is very similar to here in Topeka,” said Becerra. “What’s nice about Metro is you get girls who are close to family, and those are the girls we had recruited. They just happened to also be good. Topeka has the same kind of situation.”

Beyond the recruiting situation, the change in conference is something Becerra looks to take on after having come from a relatively less competitive RMAC conference.

“[The MIAA] is definitely a lot more competitive conference,” said Becerra. “Everyone will find that I am a competitive person, though, so we’ll do our best to be as good as we can be.”

With the season still on the horizon, Becerra looks forward to getting to know her players as they prepare for the year.

“Getting to know the girls is going to be a big priority for me,” said Becerra. “I’m just looking forward to moving in and getting to know the team and the campus.”