St. Joseph, Mo. – Bishop LeBlond High School Athletic Director Michael Evans announced Wednesday that Jackie Ziesel Fore has been named varsity girls basketball coach for the 2017-18 school year. Fore was a three-sport All-State athlete (volleyball, basketball and track and field) at LeBlond, graduating in the class of 2011, and a four-year letter winner in basketball at Benedictine College. She earned her degree in athletic training from Benedictine, and currently works as an athletic trainer at The Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Center.
“We are excited to have Coach Fore as our new varsity head coach and I know she is up for the challenges that lie ahead,” Evans said. “She was a tremendous basketball player at both LeBlond and Benedictine, and I know her knowledge and passion for the game will translate to success. She believes in what we are doing at LeBlond to prepare young people, and I know she is the best person to lead our girls basketball program.”
Fore said she was excited to bring her knowledge and love for the game back to her alma mater. “I know there will be challenges ahead, but I believe a strong worth ethic and determination will set us up for success in the future,” she said. “I look forward to seeing the program grow in all aspects. I am geared toward bringing the excitement back to LeBlond girls basketball and rekindling the great tradition we have.”
Fore was an assistant volleyball and girls basketball coach at Bishop LeBlond for the 2016-17 season, working alongside Bryan Adkins who resigned recently after one season at the helm. When she was hired as an assistant last year, Fore was quoted in the Benedictine campus newspaper saying, “I would like to work into a head position at least with basketball, that’s my plan right now,” she said. “I’d like to do it for as long as I can until maybe some kids come around, but even after that I am sure I’ll still be in the gym somehow.”
Fore earned numerous honors in volleyball while at LeBlond including All-City, All-MEC, AllDistrict, All-Region, and All-State. She earned similar honors in basketball and was a McDonald’s High School All-American nominee, scored 1,000 career points, was a first-team All-State selection and was a St. Joseph Sports Inc. Scholar Athlete. She also earned All-State recognition in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles as well as winning city, district and conference hurdles titles.
While playing basketball at Benedictine she scored 1,000 career points and earned honorable mention All-Conference honors. Fore played semi-professional basketball for the Kansas City Majestics in 2016.
Her father Mike Ziesel is the longtime athletic director at Benton High School and began his coaching career at Bishop LeBlond as an assistant in the mid-1970s, including 1977 when he was an assistant to John Bizal for the school’s only boys state title. He also came to coach at LeBlond after a playing career at Benedictine.
— Bishop LeBlond Press Release —
