BALTIMORE – The support staff for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Elite lacrosse team has been approved by the US Lacrosse Women’s Division Board of Governors. Current assistant coaches Jennifer Ulehla and Mac Ford have been renewed for one-year terms. Manager Liz Kittleman has also been renewed for another one-year term, while Ricky Fried joins the staff as the newest assistant coach. Sue Heether had previously been named as the team’s head coach.

Ulehla originally joined the Elite Team staff in January 2006 and had previously served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s Developmental Team from 2004-2005. Ulehla has had extensive collegiate coaching experience, most recently serving as the head coach for Temple University from 2004-2006 and the head coach at James Madison University from 1995-2002. Ulehla is a 1991 graduate of the University of Maryland, where she earned first team All-America lacrosse honors. She was also a member of the U.S. National Team from 1990-1995.

Ford, a two-time All-American during his playing career at the University of North Carolina, also joined the Elite Team staff originally in January 2006. Ford has coached girls’ and women’s lacrosse since 1994 and was one of the founding members of the Rome Lacrosse Club for girls. He has coached at the high school level with the organization for the past six years, and currently coaches the Rome 2008 Team. As a player, Ford was also a member of the 1990 Team USA squad which captured the World Championship in Perth, Australia.

Kittleman, currently serving as an assistant at the University of Pennsylvania and formerly an assistant coach at Stanford University, also returns as the team’s manager. The 1998 Union College graduate played four years of varsity lacrosse and soccer at the school.

Fried is in his second year as the head coach of the Georgetown University women’s team after previously serving as an assistant for the Hoyas. Prior to joining the Georgetown program, Fried served as an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins University for nine seasons. He is active in the IWLCA, is a member of the Tewaarton Trophy Committee, and serves on the NCAA Regional Selection Committee and the Regional All-American Committee.

The U.S. Elite Team is one of three squads, along with the Under-19 Team and the Developmental Team, directed by the US Lacrosse Women’s Division and the National Teams Committee.

US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse. To learn more about the organization, please visit its Web site at www.uslacrosse.org.