Building a program takes time is something you hear in athletics all the time, but sixth-year head coach Rita Jordan does not buy into that philosophy.

She built the Cowgirl program from the ground up and in just the second season of the program the team played in the ASC final. In seasons three and four the team won the conference title and played in the NCAA Tournament.

Once the program is built, maintaining the foundation is necessary and Jordan and the team found that out in the program’s fifth year. She had a team that had to replace seven starters and most of those starters were replaced with new faces to the program. The record took a step back, but a new influx of talent was put on the field and the future looks bright again for the 2009 season.

Jordan has proven to be an excellent evaluator of talent and recruiter as she has brought in three players that were named All-American a total of six times in the first five years of the program. Sadye Hill was a three-time All-American and she joined Nicole Cortez as first-team All-Americans in the program. Arin Spence was a two-time All-American.

Jordan has a career mark of 117-82-1.

In 2008, the Cowgirls went 16-18, put six freshmen on the team earned either first, second or honorable mention all-conference honors.

In 2007, the Cowgirls won their second straight ASC title and went back to the NCAA Tournament. Her team finished 29-16, but got hot at the right time to claim the ASC Title. Arin Spence was named the league's pitcher of the year for the third straight year, Sadye Hill was the ASC hitter of the year and both were named second team All-Americans.

In 2006, the Cowgirls went 30-12, won the ASC title and won a game in the NCAA regional. Nicole Cortez and Arin Spence were named All-Americans and five players Spence, Cortez, Sadye Hill, Lydia Bradley and freshman Cricket Criner earned all-region honors. Criner was the ASC West Freshman of the Year, Cortez was the ASC West Player of the Year and Spence was the ASC West Pitcher of the Year.

In 2005, the Cowgirls finished with a 32-9 mark and produced an All-American and three all-region performers. Sadye Hill was a third-team All-American and Hill, Arin Spence and Nicole Cortez earned all-region accolades. Spence was named the player and pitcher of the year in the ASC.

Jordan was hired in the summer of 2003 and fielded a team that went 10-27-1 in the first year, but showed signs of improvement late in the year. Jordan has built the program entirely from scratch and now HSU features a top-of-the-line playing field at Cowgirl Field along with a state-of-the-art fieldhouse that includes a training room, locker rooms, coaches offices, a meeting room and indoor hitting and pitching tunnels.

The former Hawley head coach and Abilene Christian assistant coach is the first softball coach in the program's history. Jordan is a 1974 graduate of Tarleton State University with a degree in Health and Physical Education and a minor in English.

Jordan was part of the Hawley Independent School System from 1977 to 1997, where she served as a teacher, at-risk coordinator and coach. She coached the softball team from 1994 to 1997. She also coached the basketball, tennis, and volleyball teams at different times in her tenure at Hawley. In her four years as the softball coach, her teams went to the regional finals in 1994, won the 3A state championship in 1995, went to the area finals in 1996, and won the state 2A championship in 1997. After the 1997 season, she was named Texas Sports Writers' Association State Coach of the Year and was one of five finalists for national coach of the year honors.

After the 1997 season, Jordan changed career directions and became an assistant softball coach at Abilene Christian University. She was with the Wildcats for five seasons before teaching in the Abilene Independent School System this past school year. While at ACU she earned her Master's of Education Degree in School Administration.

Jordan and her husband of 34 years, Lonnie, have two adult children and one grandchild and live in Hawley.

After turning in one of the top career's ever by a player in the American Southwest Conference, Arin Spence is in her second season as an assistant with the Cowgirl program.

She is instrumental in the day-to-day activities of the program, including recruiting, on-the-field coaching, practice planning as well as field maintenance.

Spence was a two-time All-American selection, a four-time all-region selection and was three times the American Southwest Conference pitcher of the year.

She was also the hitter of the year as a sophomore at HSU and as a freshman she pitched Angelo State to the national championship in Division II. She posted a record of 62-17 at HSU in the circle and hit .366 with 23 home runs.