While she and former Northern men’s basketball head coach Matt Majkrzak married in 2022, after both had arrived at NMU, he left for the same job at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois in the past two months, making her departure maybe not a foregone conclusion, but certainly something that seemed possible.

Lindsey LeMay took over as Wildcats’ coach prior to the 2020 season just before the coronavirus pandemic swept the U.S. and the world, but still was able to turn a fledgling program into a quite successful one the past few years.

NMU had only offered lacrosse as a women’s varsity sport for three years before she arrived, its best record in that span was 4-12.

While her first pair of teams hovered just below .500, Majkrzak’s four most recent squads have finished with overall records of 11-7, 14-5, 11-8 and 13-6, reaching the GLIAC Tournament championship game each year.

Northern Michigan University head coach Lindsey Majkrzak, center with hand out, talks to the Wildcats between the end of regulation and overtime in a GLIAC women’s lacrosse game played against Grand Valley State at the Superior Dome in Marquette on March 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

No announcement by NMU or other places, through a Google search, found a specific job that Lindsey Majkrzak might be taking or having already taken in Illinois.

NMU Sports Information decided to release this farewell letter to the NMU and area community as that announcement.

“Dear Northern Michigan,

Since the final time our team broke a huddle, I’ve been trying to think of the perfect way to explain the joy I’ve experienced at the helm of this program. But every time I settle on what I want to say, another memory pops up, and then the train comes off the tracks, and I’m reminiscing instead of writing this. 

What a joy it has been.

Lindsey Majkrzak

Origami hearts. Deep breaths on away game fields. Hotel meeting room graduations. Morning practice sunrises. Noque nymphs. Carrying bridges. ‘Cats Connect activities.

Thanksgiving. Color team challenges. Road trip mayhem. Family tailgates. Ice cream with sprinkles. Crying at senior banquets. Murder mysteries in the Traverse City yurts. Trading places with NMU Theater. The second locker room huddles before home games. Saturday practices at the GLIAC tournament.

All of it, joy.

The ten-ish minutes every day before we start film, where everyone would chatter to each other. Being wholly themselves, telling stories, and laughing. I wish I could stay with you all in that space forever. In the world’s largest wooden dome.

Ends are hard.

How do you sum up seven years of life and love? How do you explain how much something meant?

Maybe just with a thank you. A thank you to the people who made working for Northern Michigan University special. 

To my husband, with whom I got to build a program in tandem. To the best staff a coach could ask for. To the admin who supported my athletes on the front lines and behind the scenes. To the folks who hung the nets and lined the fields and did the little things to make my team feel important. To the top media crew in the country. To the people across campus who helped me create unique opportunities that could only happen here, and who made my athletes succeed beyond the field. 

Thank you to the Marquette community. Your curiosity for this unfamiliar sport has been a gift. The way people care about Northern Michigan University athletics and support athletes in this town is a wonder to experience. You’ve made a team of athletes and coaches, all from far, far away, feel at home. 

Thank you to the families of our team. The way you have shown up in the biggest moments has been incredible to watch. Striped overalls, grills, balloon arches, and so much love. Thank you for sharing your daughters. There is no ‘nmuwlax’ without you. 

Finally, to my athletes: thank you for changing my life in a thousand ways a thousand different times. For the joy, the tears, the laughs, and the authenticity. For every memory, and never being too cool to care. You are all an inspiration, and being your coach was the privilege of a lifetime. 

I will miss the snow, the water, and the trees. But most of all the people. 

Northern Michigan might not be perfect for everyone, but it was for me. 

— Lindsey LeMay Majkrzak”

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the news. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.