John Nelson resigned from his position as the head softball coach at Rockridge High School to become the next head softball coach at Augustana College, he announced Thursday.
From 2014-2023, he led the Rockets to a 279-49 record. Rockridge won four IHSA 2A state championships during his tenure. He leaves as the Rockets have won three state championships in a row and have qualified for the state tournament in five consecutive seasons. To go along with the four state championships, Rockridge also finished third place twice while Nelson was the head coach.
Rockridge is just the third team in IHSA softball history to win three consecutive state championships. Nelson also guided Rockridge to an IHSA record 73 game win streak, which was snapped in 2023.