Amanda Blazetic will begin her first year as the head coach of the Lakeland women’s basketball program in 2013, bringing with her years of successful playing and coaching experience. Most recently, she served as the assistant coach under head coach Terry Bowe during the 2012-13 season.

Blazetic has been an area coach since 2007, when she served as an assistant coach with the girl’s varsity team at Girlmour Academy. In 2008, she landed a head coaching position with the Cleveland Heights girl’s JV program before being named varsity girl’s coach at Streetsboro a year later. Most recently, Blazetic was the freshman head coach and varsity assistant with the Cleveland Heights boys’ basketball program.

The Eastlake North High School graduate was a three-year starter (2002-05) and two-time All-American at nearby Notre Dame College where she currently holds the program’s all-time scoring record. Blazetic also owns the school record for rebounds per game (7.4) and field goal percentage (60%) over her career. In three years, the standout forward scored 1,600 points and pulled in 667 rebounds.

Blazetic graduated from Notre Dame with dual degrees in Special Education and Business Management. She also holds a pair of master’s degrees, one in Special Education from NDC and another in Business Administraton from Indiana Wesleyan University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Child Psychology from Case Western Reserve University.

Blazetic resides in Euclid and currently works as a special education teacher at Cleveland Heights High School.

Coach Cala began coaching at Lakeland Community College in the fall of 2004. Coach Cala’s teams have been solid performers in league competition, including a first place finish in 2006, when he was named the OCCAC Coach of the Year. He is the teaching professional at Quail Hollow Resort, in Concord Township, a position he has held since 1991. Previously, he was the head professional at Pine Ridge Country Club in Wickliffe. The golf team’s annual spring trip to South Carolina allows the team to play on some of the southeast’s finest courses. Their stay at Hickory Knob is a seasonal highlight, and it always includes a side trip to the Augusta National Golf Course.

Chris Ulrich joined the Lakeland coaching staff during the 1998-99 campaign. Coach Ulrich is responsible for formulating scouting reports, breaking down game film, coordinating travel arrangements and working with the post players. Ulrich is a 1992 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College with a Bachelor’s Degree in business administration. He was a four year letter winner for the Yellow Jackets, and served as team captain his senior season. Ulrich was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Strong Vincent High School. He is currently a Customer Service Manager for Stahls' Transfer Express. Coach Ulrich resides in Mentor with his wife Dawn.

The 2010 season is Coach Peric’s thirty-ninth year with the Lakeland soccer program. His career at the college began in 1972 as a player. His freshman year, he earned both team and conference Most Valuable Player honors. As a sophomore, he was voted Best Forward. In his two years as a Laker, he was unanimously voted team captain by his teammates, while leading the team in scoring both years. At that time, he earned the sixth spot on the all-time goals scored list. Highlights of Coach Peric’s playing career at Lakeland include being selected as the inaugural LCC Invitational Tournament’s Best Forward in 1972 after scoring three goals with three assists against Case Western Reserve University. That record of nine points in a game stood until All-American player George Attoh broke it in 1976.

After playing, Coach Peric continued his career at Lakeland as an assistant coach under Mario Marcopoli. In 1988 Coach Peric took over head coaching responsibilities. Since that time, the Lakers have posted a 228-170-26 record. Coach Peric attributes his success to Coach Marcopoli. “Everything I did and everything I made, including graduating from Lakeland, I owe to Mr. Marcopoli,” said Peric, “He was truly the best mentor I could have had.” As a coach, Peric earned the Ohio Community College Athletic Association Coach of the Year Award six times (1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2008).

His Lakers won OCCAC Championships in each of those six seasons. During his tenure as a coach, Lakeland has produced 15 NJCAA All-Americans, 10 NJCAA Academic All-Americans and six NSCAA All-Americans. Gary Grover (Madison High School) was named twice (1991, 1992) to the NJCAA All-American team; while Andrew Pfeifer (1994,1995) and Damir Kuduzovic (2007,2008) were two-time NJCAA Academic All-Americans. Coach Peric currently holds a USSF “B” license and is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He is also involved in the Croatian Community, most notably, the Croatian School for Language and Culture where he served as President for more than a decade. He resides in Euclid with his wife, Angela. He also has three daughters, Georgiana, Tina and Annie. Tina was a 2001 Lakeland graduate while Annie graduated from Lakeland in 2002.

Earl Ingram enters his first season as a volunteer assistant coach with the Lakeland men’s basketball program, bringing along collegiate and professional playing experience. Ingram played one season at Columbus State, a fellow Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) and NJCAA Division II member school, before moving on to NCAA-Division III Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan.

In his lone season with Columbus State, Ingram helped the Cougars to a district final (2003) while leading the team in field goal percentage. He was a two-year letterman at Adrian College, playing on a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA) runner-up team in 2004.

Ingram earned professional tryouts with the Ohio Aviators and Indiana Alleycats of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 2005, the Albequerque Thunderbirds of the NBA D-League in 2005, and abroad in Bayreuth, Germany in 2006. He played two seasons with the Cuyahoga Falls Cuogars/Akron Energy of the IBL from 2006 to 2007.

The Lima, Ohio native earned an Associate degree from Columbus State and graduated from Adrian with a Bachelor’s degree. Ingram will work primarily with the post players at Lakeland. He currently is employed with the Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland.

Frank Caraballo returns to the Lakeland softball program after head coaching stints at Twinsburg, Hudson, and Nordonia High Schools. Now in his third season with the Lakers, Caraballo will work with the offense.

Caraballo’s coaching career began at Solon High School where he served as head head coach of the JV program and as an assistant with the varsity from 1996-2004. In 2005 he came to Lakeland to work alongside Judy Sargent for two seasons, helping the Lakers finish with 31 wins in 2006 – the second most in program history.

After a year leading the varsity program at Twinsburg, he guided Hudson’s varsity team to a second place finish in the district for just the second time in school history. He has spent the past four years as at Nordonia, serving as assistant varsity coach (2009), head JV coach (2010), and head varsity coach (2011-12). He helped lead the Knights to a second place finish in the district in 2011 for the first time in program history.

This is Coach Gerland’s sixth year on the Lakeland coaching staff working as the pitching coach. After graduating from Euclid High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Cumberland University in Tennessee. While at CU, he was a member of the Bulldog pitching staff. From there, he moved on to pitch for the Atlanta Braves minor league team during the 1995-96 season. In 1997, he became a pitcher in the Frontier League, while also serving as a coach. Coach Gerland has been a Corporate Sales Auditor for Progressive Insurance for the past eight years. He currently resides in Eastlake.

The 2009 season marks Coach Krause’s eighth year as the head coach of the Lakers squad. He earned coach of the year honors in 2004 and 2005 and brought a conference title to Lakeland in 2004, the spring of 2005, and the fall of 2006. Prior to becoming the head coach, he served as an assistant under Head Coach Chris Mongiardo for one year. Coach Krause has been an active baseball coach for seventeen years, beginning in 1992 as head assistant at Division I Cleveland State University. He helped coach the Vikings through the 1995 season. He also served as the head coach of the Euclid Admirals in 1994 and 1995, winning the Division both years and earning consecutive trips to the World Series. Since his early days of coaching, he has coached sixteen players to the professional level, including 2002 Lakeland pitcher Chris Steinborn, 2003 infielder Joe Rhomberg and 2003 outfielder Brad Coon. As an Eastlake North High School graduate, Krause played under coach Spark Sankal. Coach Krause continued his education at Florida Southern, playing for Chuck Anderson and winning two National Championships with the Moccasins. Following his collegiate career, he bounced around the minor leagues for two seasons with the Mets and Twins orgainizations, learning from some of baseball's best coaches. At Lakeland his biggest success has been placing his players into high profile four year schools when their time at Lakeland is finished. He and his wife Colleen reside in Concord Township.

Coach Loga joined the Lakeland coaching staff in the fall of 2008. Jeff’s concentration is in the pitching/catching arena. His focus is to read the offense early and call pitches accordingly. He has worked extensively in the Lake County area with young softball athletes. His daughter, Leah, is a pitcher for Lakeland and has been coached by her father for several years. Jeff works with the 18U travel club, the Hurricanes. He has trained some impressive athletes through this program. Coach Loga lives in Painesville Township with his wife, Amy and daughter, Leah.

Coach Sargent became the head coach of the Lady Lakers in 2005 and is returning for her 8th year at the helm of the fastpitch program this season. In 2009, she surpassed the 100-win mark as a college coach in just her fifth year at Lakeland. A three-time Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) coach of the year, Sargent guided Lakeland to a share of the title in 2011. In July, she was selected to coach high school all-stars in New York City by Triple Crown Sports, which venues high school athletes from throughout the United States and Canada.

Sargent has been involved with softball, either playing or coaching, in excess of 45 years. She played at Kent State University where she earned her Bachelor and Master of Education Degrees. She served in an assistant capacity there and was also the former Head Coach at Lake Erie College in nearby Painesville, Ohio. After her academic play was completed, she participated on several different teams that won state championships and qualified for the national tournament. Currently, Sargent is involved on the Northeastern Ohio team that recently qualified for the National Senior Olympics and will compete in Cleveland in August 2013. Women from around the country will strap on their cleats for the tournament.

Sargent is also no stranger to Lakeland academics. She has been on the faculty at Lakeland for the past 18 years, teaching health and safety classes. Coach Sargent resides in Lake County with her extremely understanding and supportive husband, Don. She is the mother of one son, Travis, an undergraduate of Bowling Green State University and MBA graduate of Lake Erie College.

The 2012-13 season marks Ornette Gardenhire’s fifth as an assistant coach with the Lakeland men’s basketball program. Since his arrival, the Lakers have increased their win total each season and have won a pair of Region 12, District 11 championships for the first time in school history.

In Gardenhire’s third season, Lakeland earned the program’s first district title and NJCAA Division II National Tournament appearance, ultimately finishing eighth. Last year, Gardenhire helped the Lakers repeat as district champions and advance to the Final Four before falling to eventual national champion Mott CC in the national semifinals.

No stranger to NJCAA men’s basketball or the national tournament, Gardenhire was an assistant at nearby Cuyahoga Community College in 2003-04 when the Challengers won a national championship. He helped Cuyahoga repeat as district champions one year later and advance to the NJCAA Final Four. Gardenhire assumed head coaching responsibilities for the 2007-08 season, guiding his team to a 21-9 overall record and 12-4 mark in OCCAC competition. The following season he transitioned to Lakeland to work alongside head coach Terry Bowe.

Gardenhire was a four year college starter, playing two years at Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa. before playing his final two seasons at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, N.J. He and his wife, Debra, have five children.

Osborne Gardner begins his first season as an assistant coach with the men’s basketball program and brings with him a wealth of collegiate and professional playing experience. Gardner is no stranger to Lakeland, having played two years as a part of Terry Bowe’s first recruiting class from 2003-05.

Gardner led the Lakers in scoring (16.6 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg), and field goal percentage (58.6) as a freshman forward. As a sophomore, his output in all three statistical categories increased. Gardner ranked second in the OCCAC and seventh regionally in scoring (19 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg) while shooting 63% from the floor.

His playing career continued at California University of Pennsylvania (NCAA Div. II) where he played in 58 games and helped the Vulcans go 41-18 during his two years. As a senior, Gardner earned First Team All-Conference honors after helping the Vulcans (24-7) secure an NCAA Tournament berth and PSAC West title.

Gardner earned a tryout with the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA following after college before ultimately joining the Air Force Reserves. His playing career continued with USA Basketball, where he traveled nationally and abroad from 2009-11.

At Lakeland, Gardner will work primarily with the post players.

Russ Miozzi enters his first year as an assistant with Lakeland women’s volleyball, bringing with him 18 years of coaching experience. Miozzi’s coaching career began at the CYO and middle school level where he led squads at Immaculate Conception School in Willoughby and Notre Dame Cathedral Latin in Chardon.

He has spent the past ten years coaching Junior Olympic Volleyball at the National Open level, helping a number of teams qualify for the national tournament.

Miozzi led an 18-year old team to the Junior National Championship in Atlanta, Georgia where they finished as the 16th-ranked team in the country. He also founded and directed a team from 2005-08 before merging with Eastside Volleyball Club in 2009, when he served as a co-director.

Terry Bowe enters his 13th season associated with the Lakeland men’s basketball program and his 10th as the head coach. Since his arrival, Lakeland has achieved unprecedented success, winning the program’s first two District Championships in 2011 and 2012. Individual and team successes have come hand-in-hand under Bowe, as Lakeland is one of just two schools in the nation (NJCAA Div. II) to boast First Team All-Americans in 2011 and 2012 (Ray Chambers and Brendan Cooper).

Bowe’s tenure with the Lakers began in 1999 as an assistant under Willis Brown. The Cleveland native took the reins as head coach in 2004 and led the Lakers to a 29-32 record through his first two years. The Lakers would go 38-10 from 2005-07 but remained at or near the .500 mark from 2007-09. The 2009-10 season saw the Lakers make the jump by posting a 19-12 record and finishing second in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). Bowe was named OCCAC Coach of the Year following the season.

The 2010-11 season was a historical one, as Bowe and the Lakers went 24-12 en route to their first District Championship in program history. Lakeland advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament where it finished eighth in the country.

Last year, Lakeland repeated as District Champions and once again advanced to the National Tournament. The Lakers won their first two games to advance to the Final Four before falling to eventual national champion Mott CC in the national semifinals. Lakeland finished the year with a 27-9 overall record, good for the most wins since the 1991-92 season.

Bowe leads the OCCAC in wins among active coaches and currently ranks second in school history with 166 victories. His playing career began at nearby Benedictine High School where he led the Bengals to a pair of regional and district finals. He went on to play four years at NCAA Division III Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Bowe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Communications and Human Resources from Baldwin-Wallace. He also earned a master’s degree in Applied Communications and Methodology from Cleveland State University and a master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Capella University.

He and his wife, Monica, live in Macedonia with their young daughter Kaia and the blessed memory of their son, TJ.