April 27, 2009
"Interim" Tag Removed from Blankenship's Titles
Blankenship Remaining as Women's Soccer & Lacrosse Coach

CHESTERTOWN, MD - Washington College Athletic Director Dr. Bryan Matthews has announced that Julika Blankenship, who served as interim head women's soccer and women's lacrosse coach for the 2008-09 academic year, will remain in those positions on a permanent basis. Prior to serving in her interim positions this year, Blankenship was an assistant women's lacrosse coach at Washington for three seasons.

Blankenship's women's soccer team this past fall featured 14 freshmen and sophomores on a roster of 17 student-athletes. The recently-completed women's lacrosse season saw the program's first-ever win over Rowan and seven freshmen and sophomores finish among the team's top 10 scorers.

A native of nearby Crumpton, Blankenship starred in both soccer and lacrosse in high school, spending two years at Queen Anne's County High School before transferring to neighboring Kent County High School. In soccer, Blankenship was a three-time All-North Bayside selection and led Kent County to two of the best soccer seasons in the school's history. Blankenship earned North-South Senior All-Star honors as a senior, leading the team in assists and finishing second on the team in goals while serving as a team captain. In lacrosse, Blankenship earned Mid-Shore Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior, recording at least 100 points in each of those two seasons. She was named her team's Most Valuable Player as a senior, leading Kent County to a Regional Championship.

Blankenship went on to have a standout collegiate lacrosse playing career at Gettysburg College, where she finished her career as the all-time leader in both points (309) and assists (160). As a senior captain in 2004, she led the Bullets to their third consecutive Centennial Conference Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals. She was named a first team All-American by the IWLCA/US Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse, and Womenslacrosse.com and was selected as the Centennial Conference and ECAC Southern Player of the Year. Blankenship, who was also a second team Inside Lacrosse All-American as a junior, put up back-to-back 100-point seasons in her final two years with the Bullets, breaking the single-season school record for assists in each pf those seasons.

Blankenship graduated from Gettysburg with a B.A. in Spanish in 2004 and spent one year as an assistant women's lacrosse coach for Division I UC Davis before arriving at Washington College. While serving as an assistant coach at Washington, Blankenship earned a Master's Degree in Psychology. She also completed her National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Regional Advanced Coaching Certification last year.