UNLV REBELS

Sara Pickering

Hometown: Corona, Calif. Last College: Washington Position: Assistant Coach

Experience: 3rd year

Sara Pickering enters her fourth season as an assistant coach at UNLV. Pickering came to UNLV with head coach Lonni Alameda after serving as an assistant coach at Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.). "Pick" as she is known around the field, brings more than 10 years of coaching and playing experience to the Rebels' staff. Her main emphasis on the staff is to handle the infielders and hitters.

Previous to UNLV, Pickering served as an assistant coach at Stanford for five seasons. Pickering worked with the Cardinal players as the defensive and hitting coach. At Stanford, she helped lead the softball team to five straight NCAA Regional appearances.

Pickering is the only two-time first-team All-American at the University of Washington (Seattle). While a member of the Huskies softball team, Pickering never missed a start at second base in her career (1994-97). A three-year co-captain, she led the school to its first Pac-10 title in 1996 and racked up 15 school records. Among the school records, the one that stands out the most is her career doubles (96), which is an NCAA record.

Perhaps her most stunning accomplishment came off the field as a cancer survivor. Diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, Pickering underwent a life-saving stem-cell transplant in 2001 and has been in remission for nearly four years. To further her cause, she raised more than $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by completing the 2003 Portland Marathon.

A 1998 graduate of the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in sociology, Pickering enjoyed a brief stint in the Women's Professional Softball League, spending the summer of 1999 with the Virginia Roadsters.

A native of Corona, Calif., Pickering now resides in Henderson.