August 22, 2024
East Ridge High’s Kalina Johnson Selected For USA’s 18U National Lacrosse Team
By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge High’s Kalina Johnson Selected For USA’s 18U National Lacrosse Team
Clermont, Fla. — East Ridge High School’s girls lacrosse standout Kalina Johnson has been named to the USA U18 National Team, marking her as one of the top 24 lacrosse players in the nation. This prestigious selection highlights the growing popularity of lacrosse in our community. Kalina is a multi-sport athlete and is currently playing golf. During the winter, she competes in girls’ weightlifting, and in the spring, she plays girls’ lacrosse.
(Johnson is among some of the top female lacrosse players in the USA. She will represent Lake County on the Team USA U18 Team.)
As a junior, Johnson has already made a significant impact on the field. Last season, as a sophomore, she shattered the school record for most goals scored in a single season, netting 98 goals and contributing 33 assists for a total of 131 points. Her impressive performance certainly merits her place on Team USA. It is a huge honor to have a girls’ lacrosse player reach this level in our area. Johnson maintains a 3.8 GPA and was awarded Varsity MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 2024. She also won the FCA Night of Champions Coaches’ Choice Award.
“Since starting her freshman year, KJ has been a huge asset to our East Ridge Lady Knights lacrosse team. She has a great work ethic,” said East Ridge Head Coach Sarah Klosterman. “She never misses a practice and will never turn down an opportunity to put in the work. Her mindset is a great example for her teammates. We are super proud of her accolades and can’t wait to watch her represent Team USA.” Johnson played on the 2023 USA U16 National Select Team as an Alternate. She also played on the USA Orlando National Team.
Under Head Coach Klosterman, the East Ridge High Lady Knights lacrosse program has flourished. Kalina was just part of last year’s success as goalie Grace Meyer had 125 saves in her freshman year—she’s also a star in the making. But there is a reason Johnson is on Lacrosse Magazine’s 2026 National Watch List Top 35. She’s among the top female athletes in Lake County.
(Johnson has broke the East Ridge High School girls record for goals scored in 2024. She is among the best players to ever put on a Knight uniform. Here she is with her travel Lacrosse team.)
Kalina Johnson’s journey with the USA U18 National Team will undoubtedly be one to watch as she continues to build on her already stellar high school career. She even has state championship weightlifting medals, placing 2nd in Olympic and 5th in Traditional during her sophomore year.
We are so excited for her, her family, her teammates, and her coaches. This is a big deal for women’s sports in our area to have a young lady like this selected to go and do great things for our nation. I am a huge advocate for the success of women’s sports in Central Florida, and having one of our own from Lake County representing us on the national level is a tremendous accomplishment!
Congratulations to Kalina Johnson on this outstanding honor!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
