The most successful head coach in Cal Poly softball program history, four-time Big West Coach of the Year selection Jenny Condon enters her 22nd season in 2026.
Having twice directed Cal Poly to Big West titles and NCAA Tournament appearances and a fourth-place finish in the inaugural 2017 National Invitational Softball Championship postseason tournament, Condon – during the 2025 season – became the first female in any sport in Big West history to coach 1,000 games with a member program. She’s also just the third person in Big West history to coach 1,000 softball games as a conference member.
In Big West history, Condon ranks sixth all-time with both 486 total victories and 210 conference wins. Her 444th career victory during Cal Poly’s 7-0 home win against Cal State Bakersfield on April 16, 2023 made her the program’s all-time leader.
Having accounted for 41 percent of Cal Poly’s 1,196 all-time wins entering the program’s 52nd varsity season in 2026, Condon requires just 14 more victories to become the sixth Big West head coach with 500-plus career wins. In Cal Poly Athletics Department history, only current baseball head coach Larry Lee (2003-present; 1,267 games entering 2026) has overseen more matchups.
With Cal Poly’s March 6, 2021 home victory against Saint Mary’s, Condon became just the third head coach in Cal Poly history – after Lee (2003-current) and softball’s Lisa Boyer (1989-2004) – to reach 400 career victories at the university.
Under Condon, Cal Poly has finished in the top half of the Big West standings nine times.
Individually, Condon has helped produce 98 All-Big West selections at Cal Poly, 11 Big West Player of the Year honorees, 17 NFCA All-West Region selections and – in outfielder Lisa Modglin (2007) and righthander Sierra Hyland (2017) – two All-America selections. Representing the Mexico Women’s National Team, Hyland became Cal Poly’s first softball Olympian at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games (Mexico fell in the bronze medal game to Canada).
Under Condon, the Mustangs have also excelled in the classroom. During Condon’s 21 previous seasons, Cal Poly players have earned 96 Big West All-Academic Team selections – an average of 4.6 Mustangs per season and the highest figure of any Cal Poly program. Furthermore, Cal Poly players have earned 63 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honorees since 2012.
Condon’s programs have been especially adept in defending Bob Janssen Field, compiling 191 home victories. Included in that figure is a program-record 19-game home winning streak from May 9, 2008 to May 2, 2009.
Under Condon, Cal Poly’s 2024 season marked yet another historic effort with the Mustangs producing 28 victories and an 18-8 Big West mark to finish third in the conference standings. Condon earned her fourth career Big West Coach of the Year honor while outfielder Jessica Clements – the leading hitter in program history – was named Big West Player of the Year and catcher Julia Barnett the Big West Defensive Player of the Year.
Cal Poly’s 2018 squad – which featured five All-Big West selections – finished with 25 victories to record the ninth season of a .500 finish or better under Condon. During the year, Condon became just the fifth individual in the Big West’s 35-year softball history to manage 700 games at a member program.
The 2017 season marked another historic year for the Mustangs under Condon with Cal Poly finishing 38-21, producing a fourth-place finish in the 26-team National Invitational Softball Championship postseason tournament and twice defeating eventual Women’s College World Series champion Oklahoma during the regular season. Individually, righthander Sierra Hyland completed her career as the most accomplished player in program history after setting a new Big West Conference strikeout record (965). The only four-time NFCA All-Region selection in program history and a 2017 NFCA All-America selection, Hyland also set new program records for shutouts (38), complete games (104) and starts (122). Hyland led a list of six All-Big West selections, including righthander Lindsey Chalmers, who became Cal Poly’s 10th NFCA All-West Region selection under Condon.
On the way to producing another winning season in 2016, Cal Poly defeated nationally ranked Arizona and won seven of its final 10 games. Hyland led a list of four Mustangs who earned All-Big West praise.
The 2014 season proved to be another banner year for the Mustangs with the program finishing 33-19 overall and one game short of capturing the Big West title and the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament invitation. Highlighted by Hyland’s selection as Big West Pitcher of the Year and Freshman Pitcher of the Year, seven Mustangs earned all-conference praise.
The 2009 season was the finest effort in Cal Poly’s 30-year Division I tenure as the Mustangs established single-season program records for overall winning percentage (.774), conference winning percentage (.857), conference victories (18), fewest conference defeats (three) and fewest overall defeats (12) en route to capturing a second Big West title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs, who also made program history by rising as high as No. 21 in the USA Today/NFCA poll, produced their first NCAA Tournament victories at the Division I level and reached the championship round of the Stanford regional. Behind Anna Cahn's Big West Pitcher of the Year honor, a program-record nine Mustangs collected all-conference praise.
Prior to the 2009 campaign, Cal Poly’s 2007 season ranked as the most notable year in program history. Aside from capturing the program's first Big West title and securing its first NCAA Tournament berth at the Division I level, Cal Poly established then-single-season records for total victories (39) and overall (.696) and conference (.778) winning percentage. After dealing defeats to No. 12 Washington, No. 6 Northwestern and No. 9 Stanford, Cal Poly opened Big West play with eight-straight victories. The Mustangs, who led the conference race wire-to-wire, closed the regular season by winning five of their final six games and a 3-2 victory against Pacific on May 11 not only secured the Big West crown, but also provided Condon her 100th career victory. Headlined by Big West Player of the Year selection Lisa Modglin – who also doubled as Cal Poly's first NFCA All-America pick in nine years – Cal Poly placed eight Mustangs on the 2007 all-conference team.
A standout player in the collegiate and international arenas, Condon's influence at Cal Poly was felt instantly as her inaugural 2005 squad posted a 35-16 mark. The Mustangs went 15-6 in Big West play and the second-place finish was, at the time, the best showing in program history. Cal Poly’s 27-23 record in 2006 was backed by an 11-7 Big West mark that guaranteed a third-place finish. The record solidified the program's first back-to-back winning campaigns since the 1996 (23-19) and 1997 (37-17) seasons.
Condon began her coaching career at UNLV in 1994, assisting the Rebels to a third-place finish at the 1995 Women's College World Series. She relocated to Northwestern in 1997 before beginning a two-year stint with Oregon State in 1998. The following season, the Beavers recorded a school-record 47 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Head coach Kirk Walker's staff earned Speedline/NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
Condon spent the 2000 campaign with UNLV before returning to Corvallis in 2001. She served four additional seasons at Oregon State until accepting the Cal Poly head coaching position on Aug. 25, 2004.
Condon competed collegiately at Iowa State and completed a prolific career in 1990. A 1989 NFCA All-America second team selection, four-time All-Big Eight honoree and three-time academic all-conference pick, Condon departed as Iowa State’s all-time leader for hits (216), runs (120), triples (24) and batting average (.351). The outfielder was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame in 2003. A native of Edina, Minn., Condon earned a bachelor's degree in education from Iowa State in 1991 with a minor in health.
Condon began a two-year stint with USA Softball in 1994 by helping the Americans capture the 1994 International Softball Federation World Championship in St. John's, Newfoundland. A year later, the United States won the Pan-American Games gold medal in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Additionally, Condon played on three National Women's Fastpitch League championship teams with the California Commotion and was named an ASA All-American four times – twice with the Commotion and twice more with MCM Sports. She earned gold medals in softball at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1994 and 1995 and in team handball at the 1993 competition.
Jenny Condon
