CHESTERTOWN, Md.- Washington College Director of Athletics Dr. Bryan Matthews announced Friday that the current combined position of head women's soccer and head women's lacrosse coach will be split immediately and that the current combined position of head softball and head volleyball coach will be split following the 2012-13 academic year.
Julika Blankenship , head coach of the women's soccer and lacrosse teams since July 2008, will remain as head women's lacrosse coach. A national search for a new head women's soccer coach will begin immediately.
Following the 2012-13 academic year, Lacey Lister, head softball and volleyball coach since January 2009, will hand over the reigns of the volleyball program to a new coach, following another national search, and will continue to coach softball.
"We are very excited to announce our immediate search for a head women's soccer coach and our planned search for a head volleyball coach," noted Matthews. "It is especially significant to announce these changes in 2012 - the 30th anniversary of Title IX. Offering our female student-athletes coaching staffs dedicated to their respective sports is something we can be proud of."
The splitting of the two positions will also create opportunities for the head coaches of those sports to contribute to the department in other areas, giving an additional boost to Washington College Athletics.
Washington College's other single-sport head coaches each have an additional duty, ranging from game management to student-athlete services. The news also comes on the heels of very successful spring seasons for both Blankenship and Lister.
Blankenship, who was named the Centennial Conference's Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2011, led the Shorewomen laxers to their first-ever Centennial Conference Championship Game in 2012.
Lister, the reigning two-time Centennial Conference Softball Coach of the Year, guided the softball team to its first Centennial Conference Championship Game appearance in 2012.
