MEADVILLE, Pa. -- To celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), the Allegheny College Department of Athletics will be hosting "Women in Sports: Shedding Light on Industry Opportunities and Sharing Tips for Professional Growth" on Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Quigley Hall 101.

The event is open to the Allegheny campus as well as the Meadville Community. The panel will feature assistant women's soccer coach Leanne Cardoso-Bastos, athletic trainer Laura Dillaman, head field hockey coach Lauren Thomas, and Keri Alexander Luchowski, executive director of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).

In addition to the panel, the women's basketball team will be hosting its annual NGWSD game on Wednesday, February 5, when the Gators host Grove City College inside the David V. Wise Center at 6:00 p.m.

Meet the Panelists
Leanne Cardoso-Bastos has served as an assistant women's soccer coach since the summer of 2021. Before joining the Gator staff, Cardoso-Bastos was an assistant coach and goalkeeper coach at her alma mater, Mount Aloysius College. As a student-athlete at Mount Aloysius, she earned First Team All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) honors in both soccer and softball.

Laura Dillaman served as an assistant athletic trainer at Allegheny from 2010-15 before returning in August of 2022. Prior to joining the Allegheny staff, Dillaman started her career at Hobart and William Smith College in 2005. The highlight of her tenure at HWS was serving on the sidelines for the Herons' Division III Women's Soccer National Championship. Dillaman was also the head athletic trainer at fellow Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) institution Chatham University.

Lauren Thomas joined Allegheny prior to the 2023 season. Thomas started her coaching career at DePauw University, serving as an assistant coach for a season before taking a similar role at a fellow NCAC school, Ohio Wesleyan University, for three years. In 2018, Thomas rejoined DePauw, this time as the head coach, and served in that role until 2022. She mentored four All-Region selections and a number of All-NCAC honorees in those four years. Thomas served as the head coach at Elmira College, her alma mater, in 2022. As a student-athlete, Thomas was a two-time Empire 8 All-Conference selection as a goalie.

Keri Alexander Luchowski is in her 26th year at the NCAC. A 1992 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University, Luchowski served three years as the communications coordinator of the National Professional Soccer League before joining the NCAC. In 2009, she was named the acting executive director of the conference before fully stepping into the role in 2011. She currently serves on several national NCAA committees. As a soccer student-athlete at Wheeling Jesuit, she was twice an Academic All-American and was named the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

About NGWSD
February 5, 2025, marks the 39th annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), powered by the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF). This celebration inspires girls and women to play and be active, to realize their full power. The confidence, strength, and character gained through sports participation are the very tools girls and women need to become strong leaders in sports and life. A vibrant movement we celebrate annually, NGWSD honors the achievements of girls and women in sports and continues to Lead Her Forward by acknowledging the power of sports to unlock her limitless potential. The WSF applauds the vital role played by the individuals and organizations who join us in championing this effort: advocates seeking to protect Title IX and advance gender equity, athletes using their platform to inspire greatness, and coaches working daily to promote play.