ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. − The Flagler College athletic department has announced the hiring of five new staff members for the 2010-11 season. Nicole Boone will be an assistant coach for the women's basketball team, Andrew Garcia will be an assistant coach for the men's basketball team, Jonathan Holt will be an assistant coach for the baseball team, Meghan Lammerding will be the head coach of the cheerleaders and Steven Samples comes in as an assistant athletic trainer.

“We are excited to welcome all five new members of the Flagler athletic department family,” said Director of Athletics Jud Damon. “We know they will have an immediate positive impact on our programs.”

Boone '10 graduated from Flagler with a bachelor's in accounting. She played in 11 games at guard during the 2009-10 campaign and started five games. Boone scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds for the Saints. During the 2008-09 season, she served as the team manager and supervised two assistant managers and helped in the day-to-day operations of the women's basketball office.

Garcia comes to Flagler from NCAA Division I member Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. He served two years as a graduate manager for the Thundering Herd and head coach Donnie Jones. Marshall received a bid to the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament where it fell in the quarterfinals. A 2006 graduate from Tulane University in New Orleans, he starred for the Green Wave by leading the team in assists both seasons. Garcia also led Tulane in free throw shooting (78.3%) during the 2005-06 season.

Holt will serve as the Flagler pitching coach this upcoming season. He has had a distinguished collegiate pitching career which was highlighted by helping the University of Tampa win the 2007 NCAA Division II National Title and was chosen as the tournament's “Most Outstanding Player” after pitching a complete game in the final. Holt was also the South Region MVP as well as earning first-team All-Sunshine State Conference and All-South Region and was selected as a second-team All-American. He went 4-2 with a 1.64 earned run average with 19 saves and had a strikeout-walk ratio of 79:4. Holt also pitched one season for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and helped lead the Eagles to the NAIA World Series championship game. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Holt spent three years in its organization.

Lammerding comes to Flagler having coached cheerleading (along with cross country and volleyball) at Palmer Catholic Academy in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. She was also a physical education teacher there for third and fourth graders as well as a teacher's assistant. A 2007 graduate of Wesley College in Dover, Del., she was a member of the cheerleading team all four years and served as its captain her senior year. Lammerding has also competed in the UCA National College Championships in Orlando in 2005.

Samples comes to Flagler after spending the last eight years as the head athletic trainer at New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) High School. He has also worked at the Ark Monk Football Camp, several USTA tournaments and some UCA summer camps. Samples was also a student trainer at East Carolina University and did an internship at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Flagler is a member of NCAA Division II and the Peach Belt Conference. The men's soccer, women's golf and volleyball teams all won conference championships during the 2009-10 academic year. Flagler sponsors 13 intercollegiate sports.