Belhaven University Athletics

Dr. Kimberly Harrell is entering her eighth season as the Belhaven Women's Soccer Head Coach while also assisting the Athletic Deparment in the coordination of special projects.

The 2024 campaign as a strong one for Harrell and the Blazers who finished 13-6-1 overall and with a 5-2-1 record in conference play. The 13-win mark ties the Blazers 2023 win total and combines for the most wins across a two-season stretch (26) since 2001-02. The Blazers earned the 3rd seed in the CCS Tournament and finished as the league's tournament runners up. Six Blazers earned All-CCS nods in 2024 as well, headlined by Emma Antonoplos and Hadleigh Watson who were named to the league's First Team.

The Blazers have seen a quick turnaround under Harrell in her first six seasons posting five straight winning campaigns and the first double-digit victory seasons (2019, 2021, 2023) since 2008. Harrell now has three double-digit win campaigns in her tenure, with only David Dixon (4) having more.

The 2023 campaign saw the Blazers land the most wins (13) in over two decades as the Blazers finished 2nd in the Collegiate Conference of the South and earned a host spot in the conference tournament. A strong 2023 season capped off the winningest three-year stretch for the program since 2001-03.

In 2022, Harrell helped lead the Blazers to the semifinal of the CCS tournament, the inaugural competition for the budding conference. Despite falling on penalties, the season cemented the consistency of the program and desire to continue building the winning culture.

Harrell's first winning season came in 2019, her second year with the program, where she picked up 10 victories, the first double-digit win season since 2008. 

Harrell came to Belhaven from Richland High School, where she served as Head Girls' Soccer Coach and Assistant Director of Athletics. In Harrell's seven seasons as Head Coach at Richland High School, her teams compiled a record of 96-48-3. Prior to her arrival the program had never advanced beyond the first round of the state playoffs, and in each of her last four years the team played for the North State Championship, winning twice to advance to the Mississippi State Championship, an accomplishment unique in the history of all of the school's sports programs. The Rangers also won two District Championships during her tenure, which are the only two in program history.

In addition to her roles at Richland High School with Girls' Soccer and Athletics Department administration, Kimberly assisted with the Boys' Soccer program and the Softball programs.  She also taught World History, Economics, Government and Social Studies, and was the Chair of the Junior High Social Studies Department. 

A former student-athlete and second-leading goal scorer at Jones College, Harrell is also a graduate of Mississippi State University (Secondary Education), Mississippi College (Masters of Education) and Arkansas State University (Specialist Certification). Harrell also received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Belhaven University in December 2019.
 
Kimberly is married to Matt Harrell, and they are the proud parents of a daughter, Addison.  They are active members of First Baptist Church Richland, and Harrell also participates in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Mississippi Association of Coaches.
 

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Collegiate Coaching Record

Year	School	Record	Conference Record / Regular Season Finish	Postseason
2024	Belhaven	13-6-1	5-2-1 / 3rd	CCS Tournament Runner-Up
2023	Belhaven	13-4-2	7-1-0 / 2nd	n/a
2022	Belhaven	9-7-3	6-2-0 / 3rd	n/a
2021	Belhaven	10-8-1	4-5-1 / 7th	n/a
2020-21	Belhaven	4-3-1	4-2-1 / 3rd (W)	n/a
2019	Belhaven	10-8-2	5-6-0 / 6th	n/a
2018	Belhaven	2-14-2	1-9-1 / 11th	n/a
Total (7)		61-50-12	32-27-4

 

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Blazers Under Coach Harrell

All-Region

• Kaci Craft
  • United Soccer Coaches - Third Team (2023)
• Emma Antonoplos
  • United Soccer Coach - Fourth Team (2024)

Conference Superlatives

• Julianne Wilson
  • CCS Goalkeeper of the Year (2022)

All-Conference

• 16 CCS All-Conference Selections
• 13 ASC All-Conference Selections
• 24 CCS Academic All-Conference Selections
• 16 ASC Academic All-Conference Selections

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Coaching Career Timeline