Kerri O'Day recently stepped down, after her fifth year as the head coach of the Loyola College women's lacrosse team, taking the reigns of the program in 2004 after serving as associate head coach in 2003 and assistant coach from 1998-2002.
O'Day, a 1997 Loyola graduate, became the sixth head coach in the 32-year history of the program and only the second former Loyola player to hold the title of head coach. She followed her mentor and collegiate coach, 1984 Loyola graduate Diane Geppi-Aikens.
In her first season as head coach, O'Day led the Greyhounds to a 14-4 overall record and their eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Loyola was ranked among the top teams in the country throughout the season. They were ranked as high as third and never falling below sixth in the country.
In the Greyhounds second season under O'Day, Loyola played the toughest schedule in the country in some of the toughest conditions. Plagued by injuries, Loyola finished 5-11 overall and ranked 20th in the country.
In 2006, Loyola joined the BIG EAST conference. The Greyhounds finished the season in third place in the conference with a 7-8 overall record and a 3-2 conference mark. Kate McHarg, then a junior, was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and earned All-America Second Team honors.
O'Day was promoted to associate head coach of the women's lacrosse program in May 2002 and helped lead the Greyhounds to a 17-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the 2003 NCAA tournament. Loyola spent much of the season ranked No. 1 in the Brine/IWLCA poll and reached the NCAA semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons.
As an assistant coach to Geppi-Aikens from 1998-2002, O'Day worked with teams that were ranked in the top five nationally three times and with squads that reached the NCAA semifinals in 2000 and 2001. The Greyhounds had a 71-23 overall record during that time and won Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
As a student-athlete at Loyola, from 1994-97, O'Day, who was then known as Kerri Johnson, fashioned one of the finest careers in program history. She finished with 107 career goals, currently and earned All-America First Team honors in 1996 and in 1997. In 1997, she was the NCAA Tournament's leading scorer and led Loyola to the national championship game.
She led the 1997 team with 45 goals and won the Ernest Lagna Award, given to Loyola's top senior female student-athlete, following the season. She scored a team-leading 34 goals in 1996.
O'Day earned All-America Third Team honors in 1995, her sophomore season, after scoring 20 goals and adding seven assists. O'Day was also a key member of United States National Teams during her college career and for eight years after graduation.
A Baltimore native and graduate of Perry Hall High School, O'Day was The Baltimore Sun Baltimore County Player of the Year in 1993 and an All-Metro First Team selection. She led the Gators to the 1992 4A state championship and twice led the state in scoring.
O'Day has earned two degrees from Loyola, a bachelor of arts in elementary education in 1997 and a master's degree in school counseling in 2001.
In addition to her coaching duties at Loyola, O'Day is the director of several lacrosse camps in the Baltimore area and President of the Greyhound Lacrosse Club.
O'Day married Michael O'Day (Loyola `97) in the summer of 2004. The couple a son, Grayden (2), and a daughter, Marleigh (1). The O'Days resides in Phoenix, Md.
Kristin Hagert, a former Loyola Lacrosse defender, recently stepped down to become the Marketing and Facilities Coordinator for Loyola Athletics, after her fourth season as an assistant coach with the Loyola women's lacrosse team. Hagert's primary responsibilities were with the Greyhounds' defensive unit.
She joined the Loyola coaching staff in 2004 after spending two seasons on the coaching staff at William & Mary.
A 2001 graduate from Loyola, Hagert worked as a recruiter, teacher and scout, as well as defensive coach at William & Mary.
In 2003 while serving as a full-time assistant with the Tribe, Hagert helped William & Mary achieve a No. 17 national ranking. In 2004, the Tribe won 10 games before losing to James Madison in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Game.
Hagert graduated Summa Cum Laude from Loyola in 2001. As a Greyhound student-athlete, she helped the women's lacrosse team earn two CAA titles and compile a four-year overall record of 56-19.
Hagert guided the `Hounds to a Final Four appearance in 2000, earning All-Tournament Team honors in the process. She was a preseason All-America selection in 2001 and again helped Loyola reach the Final Four. She picked up All-CAA First Team honors and was again named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
In 2001, Hagert took a teaching position at St. Mary's School in England where she also served as resident lacrosse coach. She became a member of the Berkshire Wanderers Elite Lacrosse Club Team before leaving for William & Mary in the summer of 2002.
"Kristin is an alum who believes in the Greyhounds," Kerri O'Day said when Hagert was hired. "She knows the pride and tradition involved with the women's lacrosse program, and I know that her new experiences outside of Loyola will help the program."
Hagert, 29, resides in the Greater Baltimore area. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism and English at Loyola in 2001, and finished a Master's Degree in Liberal Studies at Loyola in May 2007. Hagert recently finished her second Master's Degree, from The College of William & Mary, in Higher Education Administration Policy, Planning and Leadership.
Former Vanderbilt University standout Jess Roguski Onheiser has stepped down after her second season as an assistant coach at Loyola in 2008. Onheiser, a Baltimore-area native, joined the Loyola staff after two years as a member of the Ohio University staff were she coached under Loyola women's lacrosse alumni Allison Valentino.
"Jess has valuable experience, having played on a Final Four team and with two years of coaching experience under her belt, " O'Day said. Prior to launching her coaching career, Onheiser played lacrosse at Vanderbilt from 2001-2004. She helped the Commodores win two conference championships and earn a NCAA semifinal appearance in 2004.
That season, she led the team in goals (42) and earned IWLCA/US Lacrosse and Inside Lacrosse All-America Second Team honors.
At Vanderbilt, she was a two-time All-American Lacrosse Conference selection, a two-time IWLCA All-South Region First Team honoree, a two-time Academic All-American and three-time member of the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll.
Onheiser currently holds the Commodores record for goals in a game (six) and is sixth on their all-time goals list with 75.
Also an active member of the community, Onheiser was twice named to the Southeastern Conference Good Works Team (at-large division) for her work with underprivileged children and the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital outreach program. She was Vanderbilt's Endowed Scholarship Athlete Recipient in 2003 and 2004. Onheiser also earned the Vanderbilt Community Service Athlete of the Year and Children's Hospital Athlete of the Year in 2004.
Onheiser has been a member of the United States National Teams for the last several years. She was a member of the U.S. Developmental Team in 2004 and 2005. Onheiser has also been a member of the U.S. Elite National Team in 2006 and 2007.
Onheiser has also spent considerable time working at lacrosse camps around the country since 2001. In 2003, she founded, managed and organized the Nashville Girls' Summer League, the first summer lacrosse league in the area.
Before playing at Vanderbilt, she was a standout player at Liberty High School in Carroll County (Md.).
Onheiser, formerly Jess Roguski, married Joe Onheiser on August 25, 2007. The couple lives in the Greater Baltimore area.
Monica Yeakel
Secretary- Greyhound Lacrosse Club
Loyola College alumna Monica Yeakel brings tremendous coaching and playing experience to the Greyhounds' coaching staff.
Yeakel, who was known during her playing days as Monica DiCandilo, earned IWLCA All-America First Team honors as a defender in 1994 and graduated from the college with a bachelor of arts in elementary education degree that year.
She was a four-year letterwinner and starter at Loyola, helping the Greyhounds to a 47-20 record from 1990-1994. Loyola advanced to the National Collegiate Semifinals in 1990 and 1994. She played with Kerri Johnson, who was then a freshman, on the 1994 team that reached the 1994 semifinals.
After graduation, Yeakel was an assistant coach at Evergreen from 1994-1996. She then moved across Baltimore to become the head coach at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
She led the Retrievers' program from 1997-2005, amassing a career record of 78-73 (.517).
Yeakel led UMBC to the NCAA Tournament twice, guided the Retrievers to five Northeast Conference Championships and the program's first-ever NCAA Division I Top-20 ranking.
She took a team that finished 4-11 in 1996 and led them to the NEC title two years later. She was twice named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year. The Retrievers set a school Division I record for wins in a season with 12 in 1999 and 2002.
She is married to Chris Yeakel. The couple has two children, Luke, 5, and Maxine, 1, and live in Timonium, Md.