CANTON, Mo. &045; Albert Lea High School graduate Gretta Melsted has been named head softball coach at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo.

Melsted, who served as an assistant softball and women’s basketball coach at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., for two years, will also be an instructor of education, serve as the school’s champions of character representative to the NAIA and be an assistant to women’s basketball coach Dan Chapla.

Melsted replaces assistant coaches Ed Heller and John Stutsman, who served as interim cohead coaches during the 2003 season. Heller and Stutsman will remain with the softball program as assistant coaches.

Prior to her two-year stint at William Woods, Melsted was an assistant softball coach at her alma mater, Carleton College, in Northfield, Minn., and an assistant boy’s basketball coach at Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minn. She also served as co-head softball coach at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth,

Minn., where she helped build and coach an eventual state championship team.

A native of Albert Lea, Melsted excelled in basketball and softball at ALHS and played both sports at Carleton, where she was named all-conference in softball twice and holds the school record for runs scored in a season.

She was captain of the basketball and softball teams her junior and senior seasons, and also was a two-time recipient of the Ele Hanson Award, one of two athletic awards given annually to female athletes at Carleton.

Melsted earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from Carleton in 1998 and a master of education in administration from William Woods in 2003. She is the daughter of Marino and Marlys Melsted of Buffalo Center, Iowa.

Culver-Stockton’s softball team completed the 2003 season with a 34-20 overall record and captured both the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) regular season and tournament. The Wildcats advanced to the NAIA Region V Tournament, losing to fourthranked Columbia College in the championship game. Culver-Stockton, who was 14-6 in league play, was ranked 22nd in the final NAIA Top 25 national poll.