CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia women's lacrosse coach Julie Myers is pleased to announced the signing of eight student-athletes to national letters of intent to play for the Cavaliers beginning with the 2009-2010 academic year.

Joining the Virginia program will be Kelly Austin (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephens St. Agnes), Claire Banta (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton), Megan Dunleavy (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson), Erin Laschinger (Lutherville, Md./Notre Dame Prep), Kim Kolarik (Riva, Md./South River), Annie Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr), Caroline McTiernan (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City), and Charlotte (Charlie) Finnigan (England/Lady Eleanor Holles).

"We're extremely excited about the class that we have coming in," head coach Julie Myers said. "It's an athletic, fast, competitive, explosive class that takes a great pride in the opportunity to represent Virginia. This class comes to us from national teams and extremely successful high school programs that have experienced winning at the highest level. They rank among one of the top all-around classes that we've ever recruited."

Austin is the most recent recipient of the Heather Leigh Albert Award, created to recognize the most outstanding schoolgirl lacrosse player in the Nation. She was a first-team all-metro selection in 2008 as an attacker and is ranked the No. 1 rising senior by Inside Lacrosse.

Banta is a four-year varsity defender who earned All-WCAC team honors as a junior and was a two-time WCAC Honorable Mention. Banta has participated in the US Lacrosse National Tournament as a member of the Mid-Atlantic team the past two years.

Dunleavy is an offensive midfielder who has earned first-team all-district and first-team all-region honors.

Laschinger is a first-team All-American midfielder. A two-time IAAM All-Star and member of the Mid-Atlantic team at the US Lacrosse National Tournament, Laschinger was first-team all-metro selection from the Baltimore Sun.

Kolarik, a goalkeeper, was named one of the top-20 Girls Lacrosse Players in the US by Inside Lacrosse. Another member of the Mid-Atlantic team champions at the US Lacrosse National Tournament, Kolarik has earned first-team all-metro honors from the Baltimore Sun.

Thomas was an All-Baltimore City selection in 2008 as an attacker. She was an applicant for the U-19 USA team in 2007 and was a member of the Mid-Atlantic Nationals Team in 2006.

McTiernan, an attacker, earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2008 after being named to the Newsday All-Long Island and All-Nassau County teams.

Finnigan is the Cavaliers' first-ever player from England, joining the team as an attacker from Lady Eleanor Holles School. Finnigan is currently a member of the England Lacrosse Performance Squad and was one of the 30 finalists selected to play in the Senior World Cup in 2009. A member of the England Lacrosse team that won a bronze medal at the 2007 U19 World Championships, Finnigan is also the top goal scorer in the British Universities Lacrosse League.

"We're excited about our first-ever player from another country," Myers said. "With each of them having another year of high school competition left, they still have their best years ahead of them. Each of these players knows how to train to win and have been rewarded for their successes. We've been fortunate enough to work with them some over the summer, so we know that they'll be able to contribute immediately to be able to keep Virginia among the top in the country."

The 2009 Cavaliers will open their season at home on Wednesday, Feb. 18, playing host to in-state rival, and conference-foe, Virginia Tech.

2008-12-02