Coaching Staff

Jenny Condon
Head Coach
Sixth Season
Iowa State, 1991

The engineer behind the Cal Poly program’s emergence as the top team within the Big West Conference and as one of the most competitive programs within Division I softball is sixth-year head coach Jenny Condon. The 2009 regular season proved to be the finest effort in Cal Poly’s 15-year Division I tenure as the Mustangs established new single-season program records for overall winning percentage (.774), conference winning percentage (.857), conference victories (18), fewest conference defeats (three) and fewest overall defeats (12) en route to capturing a second Big West title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Since Condon arrived in San Luis Obispo prior to the 2005 campaign, Cal Poly has won 65 percent of its overall contests, 70 percent of Big West games and failed to suffer a losing season.

Setting the table for a fruitful 2009 campaign was a solid 2008 season. Cal Poly opened the year with a 5-1 victory against eventual Women’s College World Series runner-up and second-ranked Texas A&M and closed the season with a 24-22 overall mark and a 12-9 Big West record that ensured Cal Poly would finish as one of the top-three teams in the conference standings for a fourth-straight campaign. In between, Cal Poly posted eight additional victories against programs that qualified for the previous season’s NCAA Tournament and defended Bob Janssen Field with a 14-3 (.824) mark. Individually, shortstop and All-Big West first team selection Melissa Pura headlined a group of seven total Mustangs who garnered all-conference praise.

Prior to the 2009 campaign, Cal Poly’s 2007 season had been the most-notable year in program history. Aside from capturing the Big West title and securing the program’s first postseason berth at the Division I level, the Mustangs established then-single-season records total victories (39) and overall (.696) and Big West (.778) winning percentage. After dealing defeats to No. 12 Washington, No. 6 Northwestern and No. 9 Stanford, Cal Poly opened Big West play with eight-straight victories. The Mustangs, who led the conference race wire-to-wire, closed the regular season by winning five of their final six games and a 3-2 victory against Pacific May 11 not only secured the Big West crown, but provided Condon her 100th career victory. Headlined by Big West Player of the Year selection Lisa Modglin – who also doubled as Cal Poly’s first NFCA All-America pick in nine years – Cal Poly placed a program-record eight Mustangs on the 2007 all-conference team. For her efforts, Condon’s peers voted her Big West Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

A standout player in the collegiate and international arenas, Condon’s influence at Cal Poly was felt instantly as her inaugural 2005 squad posted a 35-16 mark. The Mustangs went 15-6 in Big West play and the second-place finish was, at the time, the best showing in program history. Cal Poly’s 27-23 record in 2006 was backed by a 11-7 Big West mark that guaranteed a third-place finish. The record solidified the program’s first back-to-back winning campaigns since the 1996 (23-19) and 1997 (37-17) seasons.

Under Condon, Cal Poly players have enjoyed three selections to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-West Region teams while eight Mustangs have been named to the All-Big West first team.

Condon began her coaching career at UNLV in 1994, assisting the Rebels to a third-place finish at the 1995 Women’s College World Series. She relocated to Northwestern in 1997 before beginning a two-year stint with Oregon State in 1998. The following season, the Beavers recorded a school-record 47 wins and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Head coach Kirk Walker’s staff earned Speedline/NFCA Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

Condon spent the 2000 campaign with UNLV before returning to Corvallis in 2001. She served four additional seasons at Oregon State until accepting the Cal Poly head coaching position Aug. 25, 2004.

Condon competed collegiately at Iowa State and completed one of the most-prolific Cyclone careers in 1990. A 1989 NFCA All-America second team selection, four-time All-Big Eight honoree and three-time academic all-conference pick, Condon remains Iowa State’s all-time leader for hits (216), runs (120), triples (24) and batting average (.351). The outfielder was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame in 2003. A native of Edina, Minn., Condon earned a bachelor's degree in education from Iowa State in 1991 with a minor in health.

Condon began a two-year stint with USA Softball in 1994 by helping the Americans capture the 1994 International Softball Federation World Championship in St. John's, Newfoundland. A year later, the United States won the Pan-American Games gold medal in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Additionally, Condon played on three National Women's Fastpitch League championship teams with the California Commotion and was named an ASA All-American four times – twice with the Commotion and twice more with MCM Sports. She earned gold medals in softball at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1994 and 1995 and in team handball at the 1993 competition.

Claire Sua-Amundson
Assistant Coach
Fifth Season
UCLA, 2005

Former UCLA standout Claire Sua-Amundson is in her fifth season as a member of head coach Jenny Condon’s coaching staff.

One of the top hitters in UCLA and Pac-10 Conference history, Sua-Amundson’s name dots the Bruin record book. Entering the 2009 season, she ranks fourth all-time in home runs (50) and RBI (156), sixth in games played (240), eighth in at-bats (729) and 12th in hits (237). 

A .325 career hitter who started all 240 games she appeared in at first base, Sua-Amundson enjoyed her top season as a Bruin in 2003, belting 17 homers and collecting 51 RBI in earning NFCA All-America, NFCA All-Pacific Region and All-Pac-10 first teams honors. The following season, Sua-Amundson was selected to the all-region and All-Pac-10 second teams after batting .297 with 10 homers. 

Sua-Amundson enjoyed an immediate impact upon the UCLA program, recording 56 RBI during her 2001 freshman campaign to merit All-Pac-10 second team honors. She upped the total to 58 as a sophomore in 2002 to repeat as an All-Pac-10 pick and added both third team All-America and all-region honors to her resume. 

During Sua-Amundson’s tenure, UCLA captured Women’s College World Series titles in 2003 and 2004. Her fifth-inning solo home run against California in the 2004 championship game broke up a no-hitter and helped propel UCLA to a 3-1 victory. Sua-Amundson was named to the 2001 WCWS All-Tournament Team after batting .333 with six RBI during the competition. 

UCLA appeared in the WCWS during each of Sua-Amundson’s four seasons. Sua-Amundson graduated from UCLA in 2005 with a degree in history and served as an assistant coach during the same season.

A native of Cooper City, Fla., she married Matt Amundson Aug. 25, 2007. The couple resides in nearby Shell Beach.

Ani Nyhus
Assistant Coach (Pitching)
Fourth Season
Oregon, 2005

Former Canadian Olympian, University of Oregon standout and Junior College Player of the Year selection Ani Nyhus is in her fourth season as an assistant on Jenny Condon’s staff and as Cal Poly’s pitching coach. 

Nyhus’ influence upon the Mustang pitching staff was felt immediately during her initial season in 2007, as Cal Poly lowered its team ERA 82 points from the previous season and struck out 82 more hitters. As a result, three of Cal Poly’s four pitchers garnered All-Big West Conference consideration. In 2008, Cal Poly’s 2.63 team ERA and .246 opposing batting average each ranked as the second-lowest figures among Big West rotations. Accordingly, the Mustangs yielded conference lows for hits (296), doubles (41), homers (21) and walks (83). 

As a collegian at Oregon, Nyhus earned NFCA All-America third team and All-Pac-10 Conference first team honors in 2004 after posting a 25-12 record and a 1.54 ERA. The win total remains the second-highest in Oregon single-season history and Nyhus added 202 strikeouts to her resume for the Ducks, who reached the championship game of the Florida State Regional. Nyhus, who no-hit Utah State during the 2004 campaign, earned all 10 of Oregon’s Pac-10 victories and shut out six ranked opponents. Her 1.67 ERA remains the eighth-best mark in program history. 

Nyhus began her collegiate career at Central Arizona College. As a sophomore, Nyhus struck out 378 batters and posted 40 victories to earn Junior College Player of the Year, All-America, all-region and All-Arizona Community College Athletic Association honors as the Vaqueros finished 70-4 and captured the National Junior College Athletic Association championship. Nyhus collected 34 victories as a freshman in 2002 as the Vaqueros went 63-2. Along with her single-season bests, Nyhus owns CAC career records for total victories (74) and strikeouts (627). 

A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Nyhus pitched for the Canadian National Team that went 3-4 at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. She was a national team member from 2002-04. Additionally, Nyhus compiled a 2-1 mark for Canada at the 2003 U.S. Cup.

Chris Ritter
Athletics Trainer
Fourth Season