Penn State announced Monday the hiring of Makenna Newkirk as a new assistant coach for the women’s hockey team.
Newkirk, a standout player at Boston College, joins the Nittany Lions after spending the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach for Brown.
“We are thrilled to work with Makenna,” said Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal. “She was an elite player and now she is passionate and genuine role-model, mentor, and teacher. We will all learn from her maturity and wisdom. She is competitive, she will bring championship habits and add accountability. We’re excited for her to get started.”
Newkirk joins Penn State after having a positive impact behind the bench for Brown in 2021-22, where she helped the Bears to their best overall record in the last five seasons, including their most wins in ECAC play since 2008-09 and highest finish in the ECAC standings in a decade.
Playing at Boston College from 2015 to 2019, Newkirk was one of the most consistent point producers and playmakers in the nation. She finished her BC career ranked fifth on the program scoring list in points (189), sixth in goals (73), third in assists (116) and fourth in game-winning scores (14) and was a two-time captain.
Newkirk also competed for USA Hockey on the U22 National Team, was an invitee to the Olympic tryouts for the 2018 Pyeongyang Winter Games and attended three national team festivals.
She was the seventh overall draft pick in the 2019 NWHL Draft and played two seasons in the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in the New Hampshire Region.
