Dava Laxton has been named head softball coach at Oneida High School, Principal Stacy Love announced Wednesday.
Joining Laxton’s staff will be Lori Marcum, Richica Strunk and Ethan Shoemaker.
Laxton was an accomplished high school softball player in Missouri. She was named all-district and all-conference every year of her career, and holds several state hitting and pitching records. Her team never failed to win a conference championship, and she was also named all-state each of her four years.
As a college player at Graceland University in Iowa, she was also all-conference all four years, while also earning All-American honors and leading her conference in strike-outs and ERA for three years. She won an international championship with the USA amateur team, won a European championship with The Netherlands, and was inducted into the Graceland University Collegiate Hall of Fame in 2011.
Laxton has been instrumental in the development of several softball programs throughout northwest Missouri and Iowa.
“It is an honor to accept the head softball coaching position at OHS,” Laxton said. “I am grateful and excited for this opportunity to come home to this community and to invest in this program. I look forward to assuming my new role and with the help of my coaching staff and student-athletes, I look forward to continuing and building upon our winning traditions.”
Laxton has been married to Jason Laxton for 22 years. They have two children, Bo and Josie.
Marcum is an employee of the Oneida Special School District and a former softball coach who was an accomplished athlete in her own right.
Strunk is a fifth grade teacher at Oneida Elementary School, and a mother of three.
Shoemaker has coached middle school and high school softball, and has also been involved with coaching high school softball since 2018. He is a 1993 graduate of Scott High School. He and his wife, Sherry, have three children, Shiloh, Shayla and Caden.
