After a nationwide search in partnership with
The Finney Search Group, GPS is pleased to announce that Laura “Mac” McIntyre will join us this summer as our new Associate Athletic Director for Operations and Head Varsity Lacrosse Coach. Most recently, Coach McIntyre served as the inaugural Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at California Lutheran University, where she built a lacrosse program in a market in which the sport is viewed as nontraditional. After five years in the role, she was named the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2024.
At CLU, she also served as the NCAA Compliance Officer working with over 500 student athletes in 22 varsity sports annually. She’s collaborated with colleagues across the university on a variety of matters working with student conduct and student life as well as consulting on task forces to advance the institution’s strategic plan.
She worked closely with the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) over the past several years most notably as the Chair of the Awards Committee. In these varied roles, Coach Mac developed a passion for athletic administration and student affairs, and she is eager to begin serving GPS’s entire athletic program by supporting its day-to-day operation.
Prior to her time at CLU, Coach McIntyre served as the Head Women’s Field Hockey Coach and Assistant Coach for the Women’s Lacrosse Team at Sewanee: The University of the South. Her collegiate coaching career began at McDaniel College (Westminster, Maryland), where she was a Graduate Assistant Coach for their Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse teams while she completed her master’s degree in counseling.
She is eager to engage with all and connect genuinely focusing on the individual needs of the student athletes. “The mission and values of GPS truly align with who I am as a coach and administrator, and also as a person. One of my favorite parts about my career path is being a mentor and supporting young women in growing into who they want to be,” Coach Mac says.
As an athlete herself, she competed as a goalkeeper at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, where she advanced to four consecutive NCAA tournaments and won a national championship her senior year, the first of several for the Bullets. She was a four-year dual-sport athlete also competing on the Gettysburg Field Hockey team. Coach Mac has also served as a club coach and camp director for the past several years, coaching talented lacrosse players from around the country in various settings.
GPS is thrilled to welcome Coach Mac and her husband, Steve Lohn, to Chattanooga this summer. They are excited to return to southeast Tennessee and reconnect with old friends in a city they’ve loved since living in Sewanee for more than four years. Please welcome her to GPS!