The Indian Leader would like to welcome Jolona Shield-Dzakic to the Haskell family as the Head Softball Coach for Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU)!
Jolana was born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. She is an alumni student of Lawrence High School, where she was awarded 6A Sunflower All-Conference and 6A All-State for the softball program. After graduating high school Shield-Dzakic attended Cowley County Community College as a student-athlete for their Tiger softball program. At Cowley, she was awarded 1st Team All-Conference both her freshmen and sophomore year, Cowley College Student-Athlete of the Month, NJCAA All American, and Dean’s Honor Roll. After graduating from Cowley, she transferred to Mount Mercy University as a student-athlete to round out her Junior and Senior years. While at Mount Mercy University, she was awarded 1st Team All-Conference, broke the Single Season RBI record, and tied the Long-Standing Home Run record. As an athlete, Shield-Dzakic played as a pitcher, 1st baseman, and a power hitter. In May 2019, she graduated from Mount Mercy University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration.
Shield-Dzakic previously volunteered her time to help the Haskell Softball program in the fall of 2019. In spring 2020, Shield-Dzakic was hired as one of the assistant coaches for the Softball program at HINU. Jolona Shield-Dzakic is now excited to be given the opportunity to be the Head Coach for the HINU softball program.
Shield-Dzakic descends from the Apsalooke and Oglala Lakota peoples. Both her parents are Haskell Alumni. Onward Haskell!
Image curtesy of Jolona Shield-Dzakic
