MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead head softball coach Mike Armitage has announced three additions to his staff ahead of the 2024 season. The Dragons have added Katie Armitage and Connor Syverson as assistant coaches and former MSUM catcher Megan Asham joins the fold as a volunteer assistant. 

Armitage has spent the previous two seasons as a volunteer pitching coach for MSUM. Her work with the Dragon twirlers paid off in 2023 as MSUM surrendered a .292 opponent batting average to hitters during the season. Evey Evans set the single-season school record for saves thanks to Armitage's tutelage. 

Prior to MSUM, Armitage spent nearly 15 years as a softball pitching coach to fully hone her craft. She was a four-year letterwinner in softball for NCAA Division I Illinois State from 1999-2002. Following her collegiate career with the Redbirds, softball led Armitage abroad to New Zealand where she lived and competed from 2004 until 2006. Armitage worked with the Canterbury Softball Association in New Zealand where she worked with 20 different schools in the area to help promote and teach the game of softball.

Armitage is a 2003 graduate of Illinois State with a degree in public relations and a minor in recreation. 

Syverson has enjoyed a successful athletic career that has included being a member of the USA Softball Junior Men's National Team from 2012 until 2014. He also helped coach the Brownton Cubs (Brownton, Minn.) 14's club team to a championship in 2014-15. 

More recently, Syverson has served as the president and coach of MSUM's men's club volleyball team. A successful volleyball athlete, Syverson was tasked with planning practices and the managing of a team with 26 players. He has also been an integral part of MSUM's GO! TEAM where he has served as the softball and volleyball sports lead as well as helping manage operations for the GO! TEAM. 

In 2022, Syverson served as a practice player for MSUM. Syverson is on track to earn his undergraduate degree in digital media management this coming spring. 

Asham comes back to Moorhead following a stint as head coach at D'Youville University where she accrued 72 career wins for the Saints. She helped guide D'Youville to a program record 29 wins in 2022 as Asham was named the USCAA Coach of the Year for her efforts. The Saints finished runner-up at that season's USCAA Championships. 

As a student-athlete, Asham was a four-year stalwart for MSUM from 2015 until 2018. The Brandon, Manitoba, native played behind the plate for four seasons and would go on to accumulate a .969 lifetime fielding percentage with 367 put-outs and just 13 career errors. 

Asham earned her undergraduate degree from MSUM in 2018 and would go on to gain her Masters at D'Youville in 2022. She currently works as an Occupational Therapist for Sanford Health in Fargo.