BALTIMORE — The defending America East champion UMBC Volleyball has signed Megan Hunter, Dasia Johnson and Elly Vandlingham, head coach Kasey Crider announced on Friday.

“We’re always looking for ways to upgrade after championship seasons – complacency is a reliable villain in stories of sustained success,” said Crider. “One of the easiest ways to upgrade is to add talent that fits your roster.  In respect to the incoming class of freshmen, we absolutely feel like we’ve done that.  We’ve added talent across the board, but more importantly, we’ve added good character, which is often the main characters in those same stories.” 

Megan Hunter

Setter

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Markville Secondary School

Pakmen Volleyball Club

Coach Crider: “Our program has found really good success recruiting internationally.  Megan continues that tradition.  We believe she’ll be able to step in immediately to fill the sizeable hole left by Serin Maden, a four year starter at setter for us.  She has excellent instincts and her experience competing for Canada’s various national team programs suggest she won’t be overwhelmed by the step up in level.”

Dasia Johnson

OH

Coral Springs, FL

North Broward Preparatory School

Wildfire Volleyball Academy

Coach Crider: “Dasia is an outside hitter that we spent quite a long time evaluating and recruiting.  We feel like we got a long runway to understand her as a player and at every stage of the process, we felt like she would be a huge value add.  She’s an elite athlete with excellent explosiveness as an attacker and blocker, and her history as a true six rotation outside hitter provides a particularly high floor from day one.  Add in the Florida state high school championship this year, and we’re getting an elite player with elite pedigree.”

Elly Vanlandingham

L/DS

Gaithersburg, MD

Quince Orchard High School

Metro Volleyball Club of DC

Coach Crider: “Elly is local, which is always a huge plus.  But adding her was never about checking a geographic box; it was about adding an extremely accomplished and solid defensive specialist.  She comes from a nationally renowned club program and won’t be intimidated by a tough practice environment or challenging schedule.”

The Retrievers are coming off of their fifth America East Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons. 

LaSure arrives at Columbia following a highly successful decade as Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Academy of Art University, where he led the program to sustained national prominence at the NCAA Division II level. During his tenure, his teams earned 14 top-10 national finishes, including multiple top-five performances, while producing more than 20 individual national champions and over 300 All-Americans across sprints, hurdles, middle distance, jumps, and relays.

A nationally recognized coach, LaSure has earned 11 NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year awards and coached athletes to five NCAA national records, multiple National Track Athlete of the Year honors, and an Olympic bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games.

His impact extended well beyond performance, as his programs consistently posted strong academic results, including multiple USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors and significant improvements in team GPA.

Prior to his time at Academy of Art, LaSure served as head coach of cross country and track & field at the University of New Haven for eight seasons after beginning his collegiate coaching career there as an assistant. Across both head coaching stops, his teams combined for numerous national qualifiers, conference championships, and regional honors, cementing his reputation as a program builder and elite developer of student-athletes.

In addition to his on-track success, LaSure is a longtime leader within the coaching profession. He has been deeply involved with the USTFCCCA Executive Committee, serving as president (2017–21) and executive council chair (2021–24), and remains a highly respected voice in collegiate track and field nationally.

While Coach LaSure will work with all track and field and cross country student-athletes, he will directly oversee the men’s and women’s sprints and relays squads.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field and cross country by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

A Sheridan Lady Bronc hurdler will continue her running and jumping ways at the collegiate level.

Loralai Ketner has signed a written offer of athletic aid, to compete at Augustana College, which is a private Lutheran University, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Last school year, as a junior, she was the state champ in the 4A Girls 300 meter hurdles race.

After quitting soccer, Ketner says she started competing in track in her 7th grade year.

She had also been considering the University of Sioux Falls, but liked the team bonding activities at Augustana College better.

“Comparing the 2, we fell in love with Sioux Falls and just the city itself and then Augustana, the coach is amazing, Emily is great and then the campus was great and we got to meet a lot of their team and we made bracelets, so I think things that build the team together is what pushed me more towards Augustana than USF or any other college that I had toured.”

Ketner adds she is considering majoring in nursing.

The Augustana University Viking and Lady Viking Athletic Program competes at the NCAA Division II level, in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.