SLS 17RS-178 ORIGINAL
2017 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 13
BY SENATOR BOUDREAUX
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Coach Michael Lotief on his 700
th
career victory as the
UL Lafayette softball coach.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend and congratulate head coach Michael Lotief of the University of Louisiana at
3 Lafayette softball team upon the occasion of earning the seven hundredth win of his
4 head coaching career at the school.
5 WHEREAS, the seven hundredth victory came against the University of Texas at
6 Corpus Christi on Tuesday March 7, 2017; a milestone Coach Lotief earned during his
7 sixteen years of head coaching at the school; and
8 WHEREAS, Coach Lotief is a 1981 graduate of Teurlings Catholic High School in
9 Lafayette, Louisiana, received his bachelor's degree at the University of Southwestern
10 Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and his juris doctor from Louisiana
11 State University Law School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1988; and
12 WHEREAS, Michael Lotief is married to former Ragin' Cajuns softball All
13 American, Stefni Witton Lotief, the couple have two children, Chelsea and Andrew, and
14 Chelsea is currently a redshirt freshman on her dad's roster; and
15 WHEREAS, Michael Lotief began head coaching duties at the school as a co-head
16 coach with his wife for two years and was named head coach prior to the 2003 season, a
17 position in which he continues to serve; and
18 WHEREAS, in 2016, Coach Lotief was inducted into the Amateur Softball
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1 Association and USA Softball Hall of Fame and he was honored by his coaching peers of
2 the National Fastpitch Coaches Association with the prestigious Donna Newberry
3 "Perseverance" award; and
4 WHEREAS, in 2014 Coach Lotief led the Ragin' Cajuns softball squad to their sixth
5 Women's College World Series appearance, defeating both the University of Texas and the
6 University of Arizona teams to earn the right to compete in the tournament in Oklahoma
7 City, Oklahoma; and
8 WHEREAS, Michael Lotief has built a solid softball program at the University of
9 Louisiana at Lafayette and in 2016 he guided the team to a third consecutive national seed
10 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament and a regional host site on their
11 own turf at Lamson Park; and
12 WHEREAS, the participation in these tournament games in 2016 was the fifth
13 straight NCAA Regional and NCAA Super Regional appearance and the fifth straight Top
14 15 finish for Coach Lotief's teams; and
15 WHEREAS, the current string of five consecutive seasons finishing in the Top 15
16 is the second-longest streak in program history, trailing only the eight Top 15 finishes
17 notched by the program from 1990 through 1997; and
18 WHEREAS, Coach Lotief has led his teams to over forty wins in each season of his
19 head coaching career, eight seasons with fifty or more victories and a school record sixty
20 wins in 2004; and
21 WHEREAS, on the day the Ragin' Cajuns softball team obliged their coach by
22 handing him his seven hundredth win, the team, playing a doubleheader, added the seven
23 hundred first victory as well, with a five inning victory over Alcorn State University by a
24 score of fourteen to four; and
25 WHEREAS, Coach Lotief has brought success and honor to the Ragin' Cajuns
26 softball program, although he continues to assign credit for the positive results to a
27 supportive administration at the school, an outstanding athletic department, loyal fans, and
28 to the outstanding young women who have come through the program; and
29 WHEREAS, despite Coach Lotief's humility, the players' position on the ability and
30 success of their coach is reflected in this quote from Lexie Comeaux, a sophomore on the
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1 team who, as of March 5, 2017, has started every game and was batting a healthy .370, stated
2 "He's the best coach I've ever played for and the best coach in the country, in my opinion.
3 He deserves all the praise and glory".
4 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
5 commend and congratulate head coach Michael Lotief of the University of Louisiana at
6 Lafayette softball team upon earning the seven hundredth win of his head coaching career
7 at the school.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
9 Coach Michael Lotief.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Tammy Crain Waldrop.
DIGEST
SCR 13 Original 2017 Regular Session Boudreaux
Commends Coach Michael Lotief on his 700th career victory as the UL Lafayette softball
coach.
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