Tonia Porras is in her third year as the assistant coach for women's lacrosse.
John Carroll went 10-5 in their inaugural season. Under Porras's tutelage, eight players earned All-OAC recognition, and two were named to the All-Region team.
“This has been a long process,” said Dell on the search for her assistant. “I waited until I found the right person to add to my staff. I have been focused on finding an assistant coach whose philosophies and styles closely aligned with mine as well as identifying someone who had either coached and/or played at an elite level. We have a great balance on staff with Tonia leading all defensive strategies, while I command the attack. Now that Tonia is on board, I believe we have all the pieces to be immediately competitive within the OAC.”
Porras, a member of the 1997-00 national championship squads at the University of Maryland, was tabbed as the National Defensive Player of the Year in 2000. She was a two-time All-American earning honors as a junior and a senior.
Said Dell, “Over Tonia's entire career, starting here in nearby Shaker Hts. High School, and then playing at Maryland and leading a defense that won four consecutive Division I national championships, she has known nothing but success. As an All-American defender, Tonia's ability to analyze and deconstruct an opponent's attack is the best I've ever worked with and the John Carroll women's lacrosse program will immediately benefit her winning mentality.”
A lockdown, defender Porras was a preseason College Lacrosse USA and LaxPower All-American as a senior. As a junior Porras controlled 32 groundballs, caused 22 turnovers and had 24 draw controls.
In high school, Porras helped Shaker Heights to a 55-0-3 record in lacrosse. A 1996 high school All-American she was a member of the league, region, and state championship lacrosse team from 1994-96.
Since her playing days, Porras served as assistant coach at Shaker Heights High School in 2014. She started Bay Village’s first women’s summer lacrosse camp this past summer. Porras works as a line producer for various television, film, event and non-profit production projects.
