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No. 15 Vol. 2
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www.themendhamnews.com
February 2017
Central Teacher Inducted Into N.J. Lacrosse Hall of Fame
By Jason Cohen e never played lacrosse and the first game he ever saw was when he coached. Now, 25 years later, Mike Walsh is a member of the N.J. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Walsh, the former girls coach at West Morris Central High School in Chester and current coach at Summit High School, was inducted into the hall at Mercer Oaks in Princeton on Jan. 29. “When I got hired as a teacher they needed help with lacrosse,” Walsh said
to the “Black River News.” While he left Central four years ago, he has been a history teacher there for 25 years. “Teaching and coaching are pretty similar,” he explained. “You try to interact with the kids and get them to learn what’s the good way to do it and how to get there.” He grew up in Ohio and moved to Bergen County at the age of 10. He played baseball and wrestled, but never heard of lacrosse. Walsh explained that Central was known for
soccer, but that changed in 1992 when he helped start the girls’ lacrosse program. He began as an assistant coach and from there his path to fame began. “Given that it was new for a lot of us, we kind of worked it out together,” he remarked. Walsh immersed himself in the sport. He went to clinics, watched film and picked the brains of numerous coaches, including Marguerite Dempsey of Columbia High School in Maplewood and Deanna Knobloch.of Moorestown High School.
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“I tried to be a student of the game as much as I could,” he explained. Three years later he was named varsity coach. From 1995 to 2002 he lead the team to a record of 13823-2 record and five Morris County Tournament titles. In fact, from 1999 to 2001 the team only lost three games, all in the state semifinals. “I was fortunate at Central to have a lot of good athletes,” Walsh noted. Over the years the sport became popular and more girls began to play. At Central he had the opportunity
to not only see the girls grow as players, but in the classroom as well. It made his job much easier and many of those relationships formed years ago still exist today. “I’ve been fortunate to have a number of players to go on and become coaches,” Walsh commented. He added he has been to several weddings and graduations of former players In 2012 he left Central and was named the new girls lacrosse coach at Summit High School. At age 51 he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
“I just feel a lot of gratitude towards the opportunities that I was given,” he said. “I like to think of it as a way to honor all of those kids.”
Mendham’s Girls’ Basketball Stands Tall This Season
By Josh Lashley ntering this season, there were a lot of questions to be sure surrounding the Mendham High School Girls’ Basketball program-and for good reason. After all, Mendham lost several key members from last year’s team to graduation and the questions became what student-athletes would take charge and step forward as varsity starters this year. From the first day of practice forward, players on the Mendham roster had two choices: they could wallow in self-pity and
blame any setback or loss on lack of varsity experience or they could stand tall and embrace every game and indeed every practice as an opportunity to get better in each and every aspect of the sport. Not only is the coaching staff helping Mendham toward these goals and more, but so too are the team captains Meredith Curtain and Hannah Pellegrino, both of whom are seniors. “This year’s captains were voted on by the team,’’ Mendham head coach Mark Gnapp said. “They are both hard working players that
lead by example and are very respected amongst their teammates. They have tremendous leadership skills and have made a big difference both on and off the court. “Meredith really makes our team go. She is a tireless worker that provides us with energy and toughness. She is all over the court. Hannah has done a great job keeping the team together. Hannah gives us a big lift with her scoring. Unfortunately, Hannah has had some major knee injuries that has kept her from playing last season and a
good part of her senior year as well.’’ Both captains have improved as individual players as well as leaders throughout the course of the season. Gnapp noted both Curtain and Pellegrino are both outstanding students, having made the High Honor Roll/Honor Roll over 10 times apiece. “Meredith has really improved on her overall offensive game, especially shooting,’’ Gnapp said. “Her leadership skills have also really improved a lot throughout the season. continued on page 2