Wartburg College Athletics

Monica Severson contributed to Wartburg Athletics for over nearly three decades as a coach and administrator, serving as the women's basketball and women's golf head coach along with duties as the Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator before her resignation in 2016.

She started her career at Wartburg as the women's basketball head coach in 1988 and was at the helm until 2006, compiling the most wins in Wartburg coaching history with a career record of 335-131 in 18 seasons. Her teams were consistently among the top 20 nationally on the WBCA Academic Honor roll and won five conference titles and made nine trips to the national tournament which included three Elite Eight appearances. She was named the IIAC Coach of the Year in 1992 and 2001 and coached a two-time All-American in Kathy Roberts and two IIAC MVPs (Roberts and Holly Mohs, a two-time honoree). The 2000-01 team set the program record in wins (26) and had a 21-game winning streak. She ranks in the top 50 all-time in Division III in career wins (335) and winning percentage (.719). Seven of the 12 members of the women's basketball 1,000 career point club played for Severson, including the all-time leading scorer (Roberts, 2,146 points).

In 2007, Severson took on the role as head coach of the women's golf team and turned the Knights into an Iowa Conference powerhouse, winning nine straight conference titles in her nine years at the helm of the women's golf program. Three individuals won five IIAC Golfer of the Year awards, seven competitors received 12 All-Region honors and Kate Thompson received Second-team All-American honors in 2008. Severson was awarded the 2016 Midwest Region Coach of the Year and IIAC Coach of the Year six times. Wartburg also made nine straight appearances in the NCAA Championships and finished as high as 10th in the team standings in 2008. The 2014-15 team set a school record with five tournament wins in a single season, and all-season scoring records, both individual and team, occurred during her tenure.

From 1998 to 2016, she was Wartburg's Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator. She served on many NCAA Division III committees during her career: women's golf (1995-2000), cross country and track and field (2000-04), softball (2004-08) and Championships (2011-15).

Severson graduated from Dakota State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in physical education and in 1987 from South Dakota State University with a Master of Science in exercise science.

Currently, Severson works in Waverly as a financial advisor for Thrivent. She is married to Scott Severson and has one son Ryan, a 2015 Wartburg graduate.