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Coach Swezey Signs Nine To National Letter of Intent 11-17-03 11/17/2003 Commitments for the Vanderbilt lacrosse 2004 recruiting class Nashville, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s lacrosse head coach Cathy Swezey announced the signing of nine prep standouts to national letters of intent on Monday, Nov. 17, halfway through the week-long signing period. Wendy Blue (Brooklandville, Md.), Sasha Cielak (Sparks, Md.), Margie Curran (Moorestown, N.J.), Mary Coleman Hooper (Owings Mill, Md.), Heather Koutrakos (Sparks, Md.), Ashley Paschall (Annapolis, Md.), Kasey Pontillo (Fairport, N.Y.), Michelle Slotke (Timonium, Md.) and Meredith St. Lawrence (Suffern, N.Y.) will enroll at Vanderbilt in the fall of 2004. “We are very excited about the class of 2008,” Swezey said. “With the impending graduation of 10 seniors this spring, it was imperative that we signed a top-notch class to fill the void left by these talented players. We feel that we successfully recruited one of the best classes that we have ever brought to Vanderbilt.” In assembling the 2004 recruiting class, Swezey and her staff visited a few familiar haunts. Blue and Slotke attend Baltimore’s Roland Park Country School, which produced such Commodores as senior midfielder and 2004 captain Joanna Mooney, freshman defender Molly Frew, and goalkeeper Emily Lough, a 2001 graduate. Koutrakos follows in the footsteps of a pair of former Notre Dame Prep stars in senior Bridget Morris and 2003 graduate Colleen Morris. The Commodores stayed in the Old Line State to find Hereford’s Cielak, Garrison Forest’s Hooper and Archbishop Spalding’s Paschall. Swezey visited her former high school, Moorestown (N.J.), to find Curran, and then headed to New York to round out the class with St. Lawrence of Suffern (NYC suburb) and Pontillo of Fairport (up-state). Six of the nine members of the recruiting class have earned at least All-County recognition through their junior year of lacrosse. The group also holds four state championships, two All-America honorees and two Academic All-Americans. Consisting of four midfielders (Cielak, Paschall, Slotke and St.Lawrence), three attackers (Blue, Curran and Pontillo) and two defenders (Hooper and Koutrakos), the 2004-05 freshmen class will provide support in all facets of the game. The talented group will be called upon early to step in and fortify the Commodore lineup. “Each of these girls has done very well at the high school level, as their honors suggest,” Swezey said. “We are confident that they also have great growth potential and are just beginning to realize what they can accomplish as lacrosse players. They all have different strengths, which should allow them to complement one another and allow for outstanding chemistry on the field. “Although our team will be young in 2004-05, we have every reason to believe that our current players combined with this talented group of girls will step up and continue the tradition of success we have had at Vanderbilt the last few years. We look forward to their arrival next fall.” — vu — |
