Facing
a coaching change late in the offseason, the Upper Arlington
girls lacrosse programs next leader comes with
a familiar championship lineage.
Laura
Sandbloom, who was on the Golden Bears 2004
and 2005 state title teams and coached Denver Colorado
Academy to Class 5A championships each of the past
two years, will be the teams next coach, pending
school board approval.
She
succeeds Morgan Fee Maldovan, who resigned Dec. 21
after one season for personal reasons, according to
UA athletics director Spencer Smith.
(Sandbloom)
is very connected to our program, Smith said.
We wanted to be diligent in our hire, and we
knew we were less than two months away from the start
of lacrosse season (practices). Theres never
a good time to not have someone leading the program.
Were
excited about (Sandbloom) and what shell bring.
Sandbloom
was an assistant coach for five seasons at Colorado
Academy all of which ended in state championships
before taking over before the 2021 season.
She went 31-1 as head coach.
The
family moved back to central Ohio last summer to be
closer to relatives.
Sandbloom,
whose maiden name is Burke, was a four-year starter
for UA and an All-American in 2005 and 2006 before
starting for four years at Ohio State, from 2007-10.
Her coach at OSU, Sue Stimmel, is a longtime assistant
coach at UA.
UA
went 22-1 a season ago, losing to New Albany 13-12
in overtime in the state final. The Bears came up
just short of the programs sixth championship
in seven seasons and 11th overall.
Fee
Maldovan was hired in July 2021 after one season at
Columbus Academy. She helped lead New Albany to the
Division II state championship in 2013 before playing
at Ohio State and serving as an assistant coach at
OSU as well as Kent State in that programs first
two seasons of 2018 and 2019.
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