Sarah Thorn Krombolz enters her 13th season with the American University field hockey squad. After serving as the team’s assistant coach for six seasons, Krombolz was promoted to associate head coach in 2007.
Krombolz has helped the Eagles to eight consecutive Patriot League Championships, nine straight Patriot League Regular Season Championships and back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances in 2004 and 2005. American has appeared in seven of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments.
In January 2008, she received her U.S. Field Hockey Association Level II Coaching Certification.
Coaching Career
Building on her stellar playing career at the University of Iowa, Krombolz works primarily with the defense and the goalkeepers, helping to strengthen one of the nation’s top defensive units. Under her tutelage, Denise Infante ‘08, garnered back-to-back All-America honors in 2006 and 2007 while Anne-Meike de Wiljes ‘10 was named an All-American in 2009 and Tatum Dyer '12 earned the honor in 2011. Since joining the Patriot League in 2001, American has earned nine conference defensive player of the year honors, with Gina Hofmann '12 receiving the award last season.
In a memorable 2005 season, Krombolz helped American University’s defense rank seventh in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 1.22 goals per game. The 2005 team achievedd national rankings as high as fourth in the country, eventually finishing the season sixth. During the 2010 season, Krombolz helped the Eagles rank fifth in the country with a 1.11 goals against average while ranking third in scoring margin (+2.45) and winning percentage (.818).
Krombolz directed her own camp through Revolution Camps at local boarding schools, spreading her extensive knowledge and expertise to high schoolers. Krombolz also formerly served as the head coach and site director for the USFHA Futures Northern Virginia Site at American and spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Maryland High Performance Team.
Playing Career
As a four-year starter at Iowa, Krombolz was an All-America selection in 1999, a two time All-Region honoree (1998, 1999) and a three-time All-Big Ten selection. As a senior captain and the team’s co-MVP, Krombolz was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team on the way to leading her squad to the 1999 NCAA Final Four. The Hawkeyes went 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten on their home turf at Grant Field in that season, just one win away from matching the perfect 10-0 record set in 1992.
Krombolz currently resides in Bethesda, Md., with her husband, Steve, and their three daughters, Hayden, Elle and Tatum.
