PHILADELPHIA - Penn Athletics is saddened by the passing of longtime women's lacrosse and field hockey coach Anne Sage who passed away on February 14. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be updated on PennAthletics.com when available.
 
A pioneer for women's athletics at the University of Pennsylvania, Sage served as head women's lacrosse coach for 26 years and head field hockey coach for 24 in her role as Director of Field Hockey and Lacrosse.
 
Sage's tenures with both the field hockey and women's lacrosse programs helped define them. She is just one of three head coaches all-time for both programs and amassed 339 total wins during her time patrolling the sidelines. Her 178-115-32 record as field hockey head coach still ranks her as the all-time winningest coach in program history. and her 151 wins with women's lacrosse have been surpassed only by current head coach Karin Corbett.
 
The first head coach of Penn's varsity field hockey and women's lacrosse teams, Sage was instrumental in the formation of both programs. She had a winning record in 20 of her 24 field hockey seasons and won 10+ games six times in her career. After the addition of field hockey as an Ivy League sport in 1979, Sage won seven Ivy championships in 16 seasons and finished lower than third just once. In 1988, she was named Coach of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
 
Sage's teams advanced to the field hockey postseason 10 times, including a run to the 1988 NCAA Final Four which her program proudly hosted at Franklin Field. Her program was a fixture in the Top 20, completing nine seasons with top-20 national rankings with a high of No. 4 in 1988. Six Quakers earned All-American honors during her time as field hockey coach, five were named Ivy League Player of the Year, and 48 were recognized as first-team All-Ivy selections.
 
"Anne's legacy has made a lasting impression on Penn Field Hockey," head field hockey coach Colleen Fink said. "She was a mentor and friend to so many of those that she coached. The time and energy that she dedicated to this program will never be forgotten. We sincerely thank Anne and her family for the mark she left on this community." 
 
In the spring, Sage continued her success as head coach of the women's lacrosse team. She coached the program's first Ivy League championship in 1982, and four of her teams reached the postseason including AIAW semifinal appearances in 1980 and 1982 before NCAA Tournament runs in 1983 and 1984. Her teams would finish in the Top 20 on five occasions during her time as head coach. Sage guided 10 women's lacrosse All-Americans and 27 of her players earned All-Ivy honors, including one Ivy League Player of the Year and three Ivy League Rookies of the Year.
 
"Anne was a pioneer for the game of women's lacrosse and had some tremendous teams and athletes in her time at Penn," said Corbett. "She impacted so many lives and will be greatly missed."
 
A standout athlete in her own right, Sage was a member of the U.S. National Women's Lacrosse Team from 1963-70. Her collegiate career at Temple saw her captain both the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams, twice earning All-American honors in lacrosse. She was named Temple's Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1967 and was inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. Her high school career at Abington High School in Pennsylvania saw her dominate at field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. She was Abington's Outstanding Female Athlete as a senior and would earn induction into Abington's Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Sage not only broke ground for women as student-athletes at Penn, she championed causes in every walk of life. In 1990, Sage was awarded both Coach of the Year by the March of Dimes and the 1995 Robert Davies Award (along with her fellow Penn coaches) for Promoting Social Change and Social Justice at the University of Pennsylvania and beyond.