Meghan Roman is now in her 16th season as a member of the athletic staff at Illinois College and in her fifth as the Director of Athletics.
Roman was named to her current position following the 2021 school year. She was named senior woman administrator in 2013, was elevated to assistant athletics director in 2017, and then was promoted to associate athletics director in 2019.
Under her leadership, the IC athletic department has experienced unprecedented success, which was evident throughout the 2024-25 campaign. Three IC student-athletes earned All-American honors, and the Lady Blues women’s track and field squad won both the indoor and outdoor Midwest Conference championships for the first time in program history. Men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball, and softball all qualified for their respective conference tournaments. Four coaches were named the league’s coach of the year, and for the second straight year, a total of 70 IC student-athletes earned all-conference accolades.
IC’s winning ways of 2024-25 weren’t solely on the field of play. A total of 228 IC student-athletes were named the Midwest Conference Academic Honor Roll, and the men’s track and field, women’s track and field, and women’s tennis teams were all awarded for their academic success by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, respectively.
Success was the theme of the 2023-24 athletic year as well. Both the football and men’s basketball teams reached NCAA postseason play, making IC one of only four NCAA Division III schools in the country to accomplish that double. The men’s soccer program captured the school’s first Midwest Conference regular season championship, while the women’s basketball, women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, and softball teams all qualified for their respective conference tournaments. Four student-athletes earned All-American honors, and eight were tabbed to All-Region teams. Three coaches were named the conference coach of the year, and 70 student-athletes were honored as all-conference selections.
The success of IC Athletics in 2023-24 wasn’t limited to the playing field. IC student-athletes excelled in the classroom all year long as well. In the fall semester, 18 of IC's 23 teams achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and in the Spring, the Blueboys and Lady Blues picked up where they left off in the Fall as 18 teams achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Football’s Blake Bratt and softball’s Allison Mortland both won the Midwest Conference’s prestigious Elite 20 Award, which recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average, participating in his or her respective sport’s culminating championship or tournament event.
Roman came to the Hilltop to serve as the head coach of the softball program and retired from that position after the 2023 season. Under Roman's leadership, the Lady Blues earned two regular-season Midwest Conference titles and one Midwest Conference Tournament title. She guided countless student-athletes to All-Conference and All-Region honors and was named the MWC Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2021.
She concluded her coaching career as the winningest coach in IC softball history with an overall record of 211-164 during an 11-year run. Roman led the Lady Blues to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 2022.
Roman guided IC through a historic season in 2021, winning its first Midwest Conference Championship in program history. The Lady Blues finished 25-14 overall and made the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
The 2022 season saw Roman and the Lady Blues continue their winning ways, claiming a second consecutive Midwest Conference Tournament Championship and the first NCAA Tournament victory, defeating Alma, 4-0. The Lady Blues would finish the year with an overall record of 23-14-1.
Under Roman's direction in 2017 and 2018, the Lady Blues set a school record for wins in back-to-back seasons as the 2017 squad won 24 games and the 2018 team setting the single-season record with 25 victories, which was tied by the 2021 and 2023 teams. IC has made seven consecutive Midwest Conference Tournament appearances under her watch.
In 2016, the program softball began its first season of play on the newly-renovated Jessica Kamp Softball Field and put together a 21-win campaign which resulted in the school’s first bid to the MWC Tournament since 2007.
Roman, a native of Chicago, earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Carthage College in 2010 and a master’s degree in industrial & organizational leadership from Southern New Hampshire University in 2021. Roman is also a 2012 graduate of the Women's Coaches Academy. Meghan was a standout infielder at Carthage, earning all-conference honors and setting a pair of school records during her career. She has also served as a youth softball coach.
Roman resides in Jacksonville.
