Lake Forest College Sports Information
October 31, 2008  
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Eight New Part-Time Assistants Coaching at Lake Forest this Winter
New members of basketball, hockey, and swimming & diving staffs

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Twelve assistant coaches will be working with Forester student-athletes in five sports this fall, including eight part-time coaches in their first year at Lake Forest College.

Two programs have entirely new staffs, including women's basketball. Tamlyn Tills took over the program in the spring and hired Lisa Smith, Kelly Perz, and Kristen Fink '05 as her assistants. Smith was the head coach at Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois, for the last 12 seasons and won nearly 200 games during that time. Perz helped lead Midwest Conference rival St. Norbert College to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 2003. Fink, a four-year letter winner in basketball and soccer at the College, was part of three MWC championship teams in the two sports combined.

The Forester swimming & diving coaching staff also experience a complete overhaul. Lake Forest graduate Vadim Tashlitsky '00 was hired as the head coach in early-September and selected Michael Ojdana '08 to assist him with the swimmers and Donna O'Brien to coach the divers. Ojdana was the program's Most Valuable Performer each of the last four seasons and claimed 13 conference titles during his career. O'Brien has been coaching divers in the area for 25 years and was named Illinois High School Association Girls Diving Coach of the Year in 2002.

Kaniela Aiona joins the Forester men’s basketball coaching staff this year. He spent the last two years earning a master's degree and serving as an assistant coach at Central Methodist University. He played four years at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and was an assistant at his alma mater for one season.

The Lake Forest men's hockey program has a new assistant coach in Seamus Gregory, who comes to the College after five years as the associate head coach at St. Mary's High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. he is a 2003 graduate of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and played in leagues in three different Canadian provinces.

Delayon Morris is the new goaltenders coach for the Forester women's hockey team. He spent three years working with the goalies as a student assistant coach at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, and has experience working with various youth teams in the Chicagoland area.

“This winter we have an exceptional number of new part-time assistant coaches,” notes Lake Forest College Athletic Director Jackie Slaats. “They come from many different backgrounds and our student-athletes are going to benefit greatly from the contributions they make to their respective programs and the Athletic Department as a whole.”