Lauren Farina

Lauren Farina became the second head coach of the Monroe University Express softball program in July 2022.

In her second season in 2024, she led the Express to the Region 15 Championship and a berth in the Northeast District Championship series. The Express won the regional title thanks to a thrilling nine-inning victory over top-seeded Suffolk County Community College, 10-9, in the third and deciding game of the series. Thanks to Monroe's strong season, Farina was named the Region 15 Coach of the Year. Also in 2024, eight Express student-athletes earned a spot on the All-Region 15 team, including five first-team selections. That includes Lauren Vuorinen who won the Region 15 Gold Glove Award. 

In 2025, Farina led the Express to their second straight appearance in the Region 15 Championship Round. Nine of her student-athletes were named to the All-Region 15 team, including five first-team honorees. Sonia Rosa was selected as the NJCAA Division III National Softball Player of the Week on April 2. Brianna Castellanos was named to the Eastern Athletic Communications Association Academic Honor Roll. Seven of her players were selected to the Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete list. 

In her three seasons as head coach of the Express, Farina has successfully developed student-athletes on the field and put a strong emphasis on their performance in academics. Seventeen of her players were named to the Region 15 All-Academic team. Eight student-athletes were bestowed NJCAA All-Academic team accolades. A pair of her student-athletes were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-Distirct College Division At-Large team. In 2023 and 2025, the Express softball team earned the NJCAA Academic Team Award. 

Farina was most recently the head coach for the Sarah Lawrence College softball team for the 2021-22 academic year, where she was tasked with building the program back up for the 2022 season after a hiatus from competition in 2020 and 2021. At Sarah Lawrence, she also served as the Assistant to the Athletic Director as part of the Ethnic Minorities and Women's Internship Grant awarded to Sarah Lawrence College. Along with her coaching duties, Farina assisted in the areas of compliance and eligibility, budget, athletic operations, and student-athlete welfare.

Farina takes over a program fresh off a number of firsts. The Express won the 2022 NJCAA Region 15 Division III Softball Championship, the first region title in program history. The Express went on to also earn their first Northeast District Championship and advance to the NJCAA Division III Softball Championship for the first time. The No. 8-seeded Express placed seventh at the national tournament, capping off the week with a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Middlesex College.

Farina had a successful four-year collegiate softball career. She played for Thomas College from 2017-19, compiling a career batting average of .287 with the Terriers. As a catcher, she started nearly every game she played in 2019, only committing one error and boasting a .988 fielding percentage, finishing her career at Thomas with a .980 fielding percentage. She was a member of the North Atlantic Conference Championship Team in 2017 was named to the All-Tournament Team in the same year. Farina transferred to Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y., in 2019, and played as a graduate student for the Knights in 2021. She started 21 games for the Knights, batting .371 with 26 hits and nine doubles, while also going errorless through the season.
 
Farina joined Sarah Lawrence College following a stint as a baseball operations intern with the Hudson Valley Renegades. With the Renegades organization, she assisted the Vice President of Community Partnerships in the development of promotional events throughout the 2020 season. In addition to her internship, Lauren served as a member of the Capital District Umpires Association, starting as an umpire in May 2019. In 2018, she was an intern for New England Sports Camp, working as a softball coach to children and teenagers.
 
Farina received her bachelor of science degree in sport management with a minor in coaching from Thomas College in 2019. She earned her MBA with a concentration in management from Mount Saint Mary College in 2021.