Johns Hopkins University Athletics

Updated: August 16, 2021

Tara Singleton joined the Blue Jay women's lacrosse staff in 2011 and in August 2013, was promoted to Associate Head Coach. She is the Blue Jays' defensive coordinator and also serves as director of recruiting. In January 2015, Singleton was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Five times under Singleton tenure in Homewood (excluding the shortened 2020 campaign), the JHU defense has ranked in the top-30 nationally in scoring defense. In 2021, Hopkins led the Big Ten and ranked 13th in the nation in caused turnovers (10.00.). JHU also ranked second in the Big Ten in defense (11.20) and Trinity McPherson and Annika Meyer earned both all-league and All-America honors. In 2018, Hopkins ranked 27th nationally and second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (10.53). JHU also ranked second in the league in caused turnovers per game (8.68). In their first year in the Big Ten (2017), the Blue Jays were second in scoring defense (10.44) and fourth in caused turnovers (8.28). 

The Blue Jays ranked eighth in the nation in scoring defense (7.44), seventh in save percentage (.481) and 25th in caused turnovers (8.89) in 2015. Senior Octavia Williams anchored the Blue Jay defense and went on to earn IWLCA All-Region and IWLCA North-South All-Star game honors. In 2014, Hopkins led the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) and ranked sixth nationally with just 7.40 goals allowed per game. Hopkins also led the ALC and ranked 19th in the NCAA in caused turnovers (9.30) in 2014. She coached Alyssa Kildare to All-ALC and IWLCA All-Region honors in 2011 and 2012.

Singleton began her coaching career at her alma mater, Loyola, and spent one year there before moving to UMBC. She coached the UMBC defense for two years and served as the Retrievers' interim head coach in the spring of 2006. In 2007, Singleton left Baltimore to join the Denver coaching staff, where she spent three seasons. In her first season with the Pioneers, the team went 13-6 and advanced to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship game. After a 10-8 record in 2009, Denver returned to the MPSF title game in 2010 and went 13-5 on the season.

Singleton was a four-year letterwinner at Loyola where she started her final two seasons and captained the team as a senior. A Second Team All-America in 2004, she led the Greyhounds to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Fours and the 2002 Colonial Athletic Association title. As a junior, she led the team in caused turnovers and anchored the nation's top-ranked defense. As a senior, she once again led the team in caused turnovers and was among the national leaders in that category as well. Singleton was a member of the US National Developmental Team from 2003-05, a World Cup Team candidate and a member of the US National Elite Team from 2007-08. She graduated from Loyola in 2004 with a degree in elementary education and a minor in special education.