BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University has elected to not renew the contract of women's tennis head coach Colin Crothers, director of athletics Doug Gillin announced on Thursday.

“I sincerely thank Coach Crothers for his 19 years of service and commitment to our women's tennis program and wish him and his family nothing but the best,” Gillin said. “We will move quickly to identify new leadership for our women's tennis program with our student-athletes, academic mission and championship aspirations in mind.”

Crothers arrived at Appalachian State in 1998 and was 165-215 (.434) in 19 seasons at the helm of the Mountaineers. He coached eight all-conference performers and 24 academic all-conference honorees.

The Mountaineers were 7-14 and eliminated from the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in 2016.

A national search for a new women's tennis head coach, chaired by associate athletics director Brittney Whiteside, will begin immediately.