Janelle (Engle) Benner enters her first season as Head Coach for the Bears, after serving as Associate Head Coach during the 2010 season.  A 2006 graduate of Old Dominion University, Benner was named Division-I First Team All-American, Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the year, ODU Female Athlete of the Year, and VASID (VA Association of Sports Information Directors) Player of the Year. Benner also recently obtained her Masters in Education from Cabrini College.

A team captain for her junior and senior years, Benner led her team to three CAA Conference Championships, four NCAA tournament appearances, and two Final Four appearances. She was named to the 2005 NCAA All-Tournament Team.

Also as a senior, Benner was a 2006 NCAA Woman of the Year Finalist.

Academically, Benner graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 grade average and was named ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic First-Team All American, CAA Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, and four-time NFHCA Academic All-American.

Prior to joining Ursinus, Benner was the head coach at Manheim Central High School for three years where she led her team to three Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff appearances and two Pennsylvania District III playoff appearances.

She also is a coach for the Simply Field Hockey Club and was formerly a US Field Hockey Futures Elite Instructor for two years, and ODU Team Camp instructor for eight years.

In addition to coaching, Benner has played the violin since the age of three and was the former orchestra director at Manheim Central High School.

At Old Dominion, she was concertmaster of the Old Dominion Symphony Orchestra and 1st chair violinist of the Diehn String Quartet.

Ashley Pultorak enters her first season on the Bears coaching staff, offering her experiences to aid both the goalkeeping unit as well the historically sound attacking formation.

As a USFHA Level II Certified Coach, Pultorak has been coaching in the Futures system for five years, serving as both Head Coach and Site Director in Pennsylvania’s competitive region.  As a US Athlete, Pultorak earned experience at four international tours through the Futures Elite Program and experienced continued success playing High Performance in college during the 2008 Beijing High Performance selection tournament.

A 2009 graduate of Duke University, Pultorak earned Academic All-ACC Honors three out of four years, as well as trips to the 2005 National Championship, 2006 Final Four, 2007 Sweet Sixteen, and 2008 Elite Eight. 

Before coming to Ursinus, Pultorak served as assistant coach for two seasons at Perkiomen Valley High School, leading the team to a PIAA District Playoff berth during the 2010 season. 

At the club level, Ashley has been contributing to the “x’s and o’s” of High Styx since 2006 and has most recently lead top Berks County athletes to winning performances at the National Hockey Festival and National Indoor Tournament. 

Under strong influence from Duke’s program in student-athlete development, Pultorak hopes to complete her Master’s in Higher Education and continue her focus on the development of student-athletes both on and off the field.