Two-time conference coach of the year Carrie Parnaby is in her ninth season at the helm of the UTSA women’s golf program. Since her hire in 2008, she steadily has transformed the Roadrunners into annual contenders for conference championships and NCAA postseason appearances.
From the beginning, Parnaby installed a new approach to the game from a mental and physical standpoint. Her philosophy has produced eight team titles, including back-to-back Southland Conference Championships in 2011-12, five runner-up showings and a total of 37 top-five finishes. UTSA advanced to three straight NCAA Regionals in 2011-13, including the school’s first-ever at-large bid in 2013, while also sending an individual — Fabiola Arriaga — to the 2014 NCAA West Regional.
Parnaby has guided the Roadrunners to 12 individual wins, which includes two Southland Champions in Allie Jordan in 2009 and Shannon Jungman in 2012, and Arriaga, the 2014 Conference USA Champion. She has coached the Roadrunners to 25 all-conference certificates, including nine first-team selections, and a pair of Southland Golfers of the Year in Arriaga (2012) and Paola Valerio (2011).
Additionally, the Roadrunners have improved their scoring average versus par by more than 15 strokes since her arrival and they have finished in the top 60 of the Golfstat National Rankings four times, including a program-record 47th in 2011.
In addition to her players’ success on the course, several have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. Six have been named to conference all-academic teams, Paola Valerio was recognized as an Academic All-District selection in 2011 and Bruna Spengler (2010), Taylor Newlin (2013, ‘14), Nikki Long (2015, '16) and Julie Houston (2016) have been named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team. Additionally, UTSA was recognized by the NCAA with a Public Recognition Award in 2013 for its outstanding multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). The Roadrunners have recorded an APR score of 972 or higher in each of the last five years to rank among the top 10-20 percent of all Division I women’s golf programs.
In her eighth season in 2015-16, Parnaby guided the Roadrunners to five top-five finishes, including capturing the Islanders Classic team title. UTSA tied for fourth at the C-USA Championship, the program's ninth straight top-four league showing. Houston, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference, became the first Roadrunner to win back-to-back tournaments when she came out on top at the All There August Challenge and Islanders Classic in February. Meanwhile, Long also was named second-team all-conference after a sophomore season that saw her post a pair of top 10s.
UTSA enjoyed much success in the summer of 2015. Long became the first Roadrunner to play in a major when she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in July. Townend and Aimee Ponte won a handful of tournaments in their native countries, while Houston qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur.
In 2014-15, Parnaby guided a young squad to four top-10 finishes, including a pair of third-place efforts in the final month of the campaign. Led by a sixth-place showing from Ponte and a tie for seventh by Long, the Roadrunners claimed the bronze at the C-USA Championship, their second-straight top-three performance. Townend earned third-team all-conference accolades for the second consecutive year.
UTSA registered three top-five finishes in 2013-14, including a runner-up showing at its first-ever Conference USA Championship last April. Led by Arriaga’s league-record-tying and UTSA-record 9-under-par 207 (68-69-70), the Roadrunners carded an 866 to take second place. UTSA also set a pair of school records at The Alamo Invitational in October. Led by Newlin’s seventh-place and career-best 213 (69-70-74), the Roadrunners set program standards for low 36- and 54-hole totals with a 5-under 571 and 4-under 860, respectively, en route to a fifth-place showing in a field that included 10 nationally-ranked teams. UTSA established a program record for team scoring average (298.64) and finished 57th in the final Golfstat rankings. Arriaga advanced to the NCAA West Regional as an individual to cap a career that saw her set UTSA records for single-season (73.75) and career (74.97) scoring averages. She also became the first Roadrunner to collect first-team all-conference honors in all four seasons when she was named to the C-USA First Team, while Newlin and Townend both were picked for the third squad.
Parnaby’s fifth season saw the program establish yet another program first, as the Roadrunners earned the school’s first at-large bid to the NCAA postseason by any sport when they were selected to compete in the NCAA Central Regional in Norman, Okla. UTSA finished 17th at the tournament and registered their second straight top-50 final national ranking (No. 50) after climbing as high as 41st during the campaign. The team matched a school record for low round with a five-under-par 283 at The Alamo Invitational en route to a then-school-standard for 54 holes with an 863 to tie for third place. The Roadrunners posted three top-five finishes, including fourth in their first and only season in the Western Athletic Conference. Three Roadrunners were named all-conference, including a third straight first-team all-league selection for Arriaga.
The Roadrunners re-wrote the record books in 2011-12, as they won four tournaments — surpassing the program’s total number of triumphs in its first six years combined — placed four players on the All-Southland teams and collected their second consecutive Southland Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. UTSA won its home tournament, The Alamo Invitational, for the first time by topping No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 23 Baylor thanks, in part, to Arriaga’s winning score of three-under-par 213 (69-72-72). Summer Batiste and Newlin shared individual medalist honors while guiding UTSA to the Islanders Classic crown and Arriaga and Jungman led the charge in a victory at the Insperity Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate. UTSA carried its momentum into the Southland Championship and walked away with its second title, this time by five strokes over tournament host Texas State. Jungman led the way with a career-best 217 (70-73-74) to claim the school’s second individual conference championship. The Roadrunners capped the season with a 20th-place showing at the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio.
UTSA reached new heights in 2010-11, as it placed four players on the all-conference teams including Valerio, the Player of the Year, and Arriaga, the Freshman of the Year, en route to the program’s first Southland Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Batiste and Newlin earned second-team accolades. UTSA notched top-five finishes at five consecutive tournaments, capped by a nine-stroke win over Lamar at the Southland Championship in Corpus Christi. The Roadrunners entered the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash., as the No. 19 seed and finished 16th.
The Roadrunners excelled in Parnaby’s sophomore season, as they added the program’s second team title at the Northern Migration Invitational in March with a winning scorecard of 895 (298-296-301). Meanwhile, Valerio became the third Roadrunner to win an individual crown when she claimed the Husky Invitational title in just her third collegiate appearance. Parnaby also guided her squad to five top-five finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Husky Invitational and a third-place outing at the McNeese Cowgirl Classic. A trio of Roadrunners collected All-Southland honors, led by first-teamers Shelley Martinez and Valerio, while Batiste garnered second-team laurels.
Parnaby’s first season in the Alamo City saw several notable team and individual accomplishments. Allie Jordan became the first player in the program’s history to win an individual title at the Yale Intercollegiate and she also was the first Roadrunner to capture the 2009 Southland Individual Championship. Parnaby also led the squad to its first tournament title at the Stripes Islanders Spring Classic behind Martinez, who was that event’s medalist.
Parnaby’s career extends from the collegiate to the professional level.
She played at Tennessee from 1998-2002 and during her stint with the Lady Vols, Parnaby was a four-year letterwinner and earned honorable mention All-Southeastern Conference honors as a junior. Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country at one point during her playing career and she played on teams throughout her career that produced multiple current and former LPGA and European Tour players, one of which she caddied for in the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open. She was an SEC Academic Honor Roll selection her final two campaigns.
She spent her fifth year at Tennessee as a student assistant coach and also went to FUTURES qualifying school to follow her dream of playing professionally. Parnaby ultimately graduated from Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing in 2003.
After her collegiate career at Tennessee, Parnaby competed as a member of the FUTURES Golf Tour from 2003-04. She played a full schedule in 2003 and then became fully exempt the following season. Parnaby worked with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) in 2004, where she was involved with numerous aspects of tournament operations. She traveled to each tournament to set up the site, assisted in running events and served as an on-site rules official.
Parnaby returned to her alma mater in 2004 as an assistant coach. Her main duties included day-to-day coaching, teaching, planning practices, on-and-off campus recruiting and scouting. She also coordinated team travel and taught a golf class each semester focusing on specific areas of the game.
During her coaching tenure at Tennessee, the Lady Vols made four consecutive trips to NCAA Regional play, including two regional crowns in 2005-06. They also made three consecutive NCAA Championship appearances with a top finish of sixth place. She mentored five All-Americans, nine Academic All-Americans and one player was a recipient of the prestigious Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award.
A native Texan, Parnaby was a standout at Mansfield High School (MHS) near Fort Worth. She led the squad to a third-place finish at the 1998 Class 5A State Tournament, while recording a seventh-place showing in the individual standings. Parnaby was honored as the 1998 Dallas/Fort Worth Player of the Year and was presented the prestigious Fighting Tiger Heart award by MHS. She was a three-time team captain, team Most Valuable Player and won more than 30 titles as a junior, including the co-championship of the 1997 PING Texas State Junior. Parnaby competed in the 1997 Junior World and U.S. Girls Championship, was an alternate for the 1997 U.S. Women’s Open and was given the 1992 Texas Gladiator Tour Sports Person of the Year award.
Parnaby resides in San Antonio with her husband, Ian, and their son, Cole, and daughter, Emily.
From the beginning, Parnaby installed a new approach to the game from a mental and physical standpoint. Her philosophy has produced eight team titles, including back-to-back Southland Conference Championships in 2011-12, five runner-up showings and a total of 37 top-five finishes. UTSA advanced to three straight NCAA Regionals in 2011-13, including the school’s first-ever at-large bid in 2013, while also sending an individual — Fabiola Arriaga — to the 2014 NCAA West Regional.
Parnaby has guided the Roadrunners to 12 individual wins, which includes two Southland Champions in Allie Jordan in 2009 and Shannon Jungman in 2012, and Arriaga, the 2014 Conference USA Champion. She has coached the Roadrunners to 25 all-conference certificates, including nine first-team selections, and a pair of Southland Golfers of the Year in Arriaga (2012) and Paola Valerio (2011).
Additionally, the Roadrunners have improved their scoring average versus par by more than 15 strokes since her arrival and they have finished in the top 60 of the Golfstat National Rankings four times, including a program-record 47th in 2011.
In addition to her players’ success on the course, several have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. Six have been named to conference all-academic teams, Paola Valerio was recognized as an Academic All-District selection in 2011 and Bruna Spengler (2010), Taylor Newlin (2013, ‘14), Nikki Long (2015, '16) and Julie Houston (2016) have been named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team. Additionally, UTSA was recognized by the NCAA with a Public Recognition Award in 2013 for its outstanding multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR). The Roadrunners have recorded an APR score of 972 or higher in each of the last five years to rank among the top 10-20 percent of all Division I women’s golf programs.
In her eighth season in 2015-16, Parnaby guided the Roadrunners to five top-five finishes, including capturing the Islanders Classic team title. UTSA tied for fourth at the C-USA Championship, the program's ninth straight top-four league showing. Houston, who was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference, became the first Roadrunner to win back-to-back tournaments when she came out on top at the All There August Challenge and Islanders Classic in February. Meanwhile, Long also was named second-team all-conference after a sophomore season that saw her post a pair of top 10s.
UTSA enjoyed much success in the summer of 2015. Long became the first Roadrunner to play in a major when she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in July. Townend and Aimee Ponte won a handful of tournaments in their native countries, while Houston qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur.
In 2014-15, Parnaby guided a young squad to four top-10 finishes, including a pair of third-place efforts in the final month of the campaign. Led by a sixth-place showing from Ponte and a tie for seventh by Long, the Roadrunners claimed the bronze at the C-USA Championship, their second-straight top-three performance. Townend earned third-team all-conference accolades for the second consecutive year.
UTSA registered three top-five finishes in 2013-14, including a runner-up showing at its first-ever Conference USA Championship last April. Led by Arriaga’s league-record-tying and UTSA-record 9-under-par 207 (68-69-70), the Roadrunners carded an 866 to take second place. UTSA also set a pair of school records at The Alamo Invitational in October. Led by Newlin’s seventh-place and career-best 213 (69-70-74), the Roadrunners set program standards for low 36- and 54-hole totals with a 5-under 571 and 4-under 860, respectively, en route to a fifth-place showing in a field that included 10 nationally-ranked teams. UTSA established a program record for team scoring average (298.64) and finished 57th in the final Golfstat rankings. Arriaga advanced to the NCAA West Regional as an individual to cap a career that saw her set UTSA records for single-season (73.75) and career (74.97) scoring averages. She also became the first Roadrunner to collect first-team all-conference honors in all four seasons when she was named to the C-USA First Team, while Newlin and Townend both were picked for the third squad.
Parnaby’s fifth season saw the program establish yet another program first, as the Roadrunners earned the school’s first at-large bid to the NCAA postseason by any sport when they were selected to compete in the NCAA Central Regional in Norman, Okla. UTSA finished 17th at the tournament and registered their second straight top-50 final national ranking (No. 50) after climbing as high as 41st during the campaign. The team matched a school record for low round with a five-under-par 283 at The Alamo Invitational en route to a then-school-standard for 54 holes with an 863 to tie for third place. The Roadrunners posted three top-five finishes, including fourth in their first and only season in the Western Athletic Conference. Three Roadrunners were named all-conference, including a third straight first-team all-league selection for Arriaga.
The Roadrunners re-wrote the record books in 2011-12, as they won four tournaments — surpassing the program’s total number of triumphs in its first six years combined — placed four players on the All-Southland teams and collected their second consecutive Southland Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. UTSA won its home tournament, The Alamo Invitational, for the first time by topping No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 23 Baylor thanks, in part, to Arriaga’s winning score of three-under-par 213 (69-72-72). Summer Batiste and Newlin shared individual medalist honors while guiding UTSA to the Islanders Classic crown and Arriaga and Jungman led the charge in a victory at the Insperity Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate. UTSA carried its momentum into the Southland Championship and walked away with its second title, this time by five strokes over tournament host Texas State. Jungman led the way with a career-best 217 (70-73-74) to claim the school’s second individual conference championship. The Roadrunners capped the season with a 20th-place showing at the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio.
UTSA reached new heights in 2010-11, as it placed four players on the all-conference teams including Valerio, the Player of the Year, and Arriaga, the Freshman of the Year, en route to the program’s first Southland Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Batiste and Newlin earned second-team accolades. UTSA notched top-five finishes at five consecutive tournaments, capped by a nine-stroke win over Lamar at the Southland Championship in Corpus Christi. The Roadrunners entered the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash., as the No. 19 seed and finished 16th.
The Roadrunners excelled in Parnaby’s sophomore season, as they added the program’s second team title at the Northern Migration Invitational in March with a winning scorecard of 895 (298-296-301). Meanwhile, Valerio became the third Roadrunner to win an individual crown when she claimed the Husky Invitational title in just her third collegiate appearance. Parnaby also guided her squad to five top-five finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Husky Invitational and a third-place outing at the McNeese Cowgirl Classic. A trio of Roadrunners collected All-Southland honors, led by first-teamers Shelley Martinez and Valerio, while Batiste garnered second-team laurels.
Parnaby’s first season in the Alamo City saw several notable team and individual accomplishments. Allie Jordan became the first player in the program’s history to win an individual title at the Yale Intercollegiate and she also was the first Roadrunner to capture the 2009 Southland Individual Championship. Parnaby also led the squad to its first tournament title at the Stripes Islanders Spring Classic behind Martinez, who was that event’s medalist.
Parnaby’s career extends from the collegiate to the professional level.
She played at Tennessee from 1998-2002 and during her stint with the Lady Vols, Parnaby was a four-year letterwinner and earned honorable mention All-Southeastern Conference honors as a junior. Tennessee was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country at one point during her playing career and she played on teams throughout her career that produced multiple current and former LPGA and European Tour players, one of which she caddied for in the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open. She was an SEC Academic Honor Roll selection her final two campaigns.
She spent her fifth year at Tennessee as a student assistant coach and also went to FUTURES qualifying school to follow her dream of playing professionally. Parnaby ultimately graduated from Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing in 2003.
After her collegiate career at Tennessee, Parnaby competed as a member of the FUTURES Golf Tour from 2003-04. She played a full schedule in 2003 and then became fully exempt the following season. Parnaby worked with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) in 2004, where she was involved with numerous aspects of tournament operations. She traveled to each tournament to set up the site, assisted in running events and served as an on-site rules official.
Parnaby returned to her alma mater in 2004 as an assistant coach. Her main duties included day-to-day coaching, teaching, planning practices, on-and-off campus recruiting and scouting. She also coordinated team travel and taught a golf class each semester focusing on specific areas of the game.
During her coaching tenure at Tennessee, the Lady Vols made four consecutive trips to NCAA Regional play, including two regional crowns in 2005-06. They also made three consecutive NCAA Championship appearances with a top finish of sixth place. She mentored five All-Americans, nine Academic All-Americans and one player was a recipient of the prestigious Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award.
A native Texan, Parnaby was a standout at Mansfield High School (MHS) near Fort Worth. She led the squad to a third-place finish at the 1998 Class 5A State Tournament, while recording a seventh-place showing in the individual standings. Parnaby was honored as the 1998 Dallas/Fort Worth Player of the Year and was presented the prestigious Fighting Tiger Heart award by MHS. She was a three-time team captain, team Most Valuable Player and won more than 30 titles as a junior, including the co-championship of the 1997 PING Texas State Junior. Parnaby competed in the 1997 Junior World and U.S. Girls Championship, was an alternate for the 1997 U.S. Women’s Open and was given the 1992 Texas Gladiator Tour Sports Person of the Year award.
Parnaby resides in San Antonio with her husband, Ian, and their son, Cole, and daughter, Emily.