By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/3/09
The 10th The Annual Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival will field a record amount of teams in 2010, it has been announced.
Twenty-eight girls’ team and 26 boys’ teams, featuring many of the top lacrosse squads from the Philadelphia region and beyond, will compete in an event known as the largest one-day scholastic festival in the country.
The festival, set for Saturday, April 24 at Radnor High, raises money for spinal cord research and development. It is named after Katie Samson, a former Radnor High great who suffered a severe spinal injury in a sledding accident in 2000 while a student-athlete at Middlebury College.
Peter Samson, Katie’s father and the founder of the Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival, released the slate of games today. It features many matchups of teams that finished high in the rankings in Pennsylvania and at the national level last year.
For the boys, there are numerous marquee matchups. One features 2009 District 1 champion and state finalist Conestoga vs. Inter-Ac league co-champion Malvern Prep. The other Inter-Ac co-champion, Haverford School, will play defending District 11 champion and state quarterfinalist Emmaus.
La Salle, the two-time defending state champion, will meet 2009 state qualifier Lower Merion. Both La Salle (8th) and Conestoga (19th) finished among the top 20 teams in the final Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse national rankings last year.
Meanwhile, state semifinalist Springfield-Delco will meet St. Joseph’s Prep, which went 16-2 and was ranked third in the final PA Media Rankings. Other intriguing matchups include District 1 finalist Downingtown East vs. Suburban One National Conference champion Abington; Inter-Ac power Episcopal Academy and New Jersey prep power Lawrenceville School; and Connecticut prep power Brunswick School vs. Inter-Ac member Penn Charter.
For the girls, top matchups include defending District 1 champion Springfield-Delco vs. defending Inter-Ac winner Episcopal Academy; state finalist Strath Haven vs. Athletic Association of Catholic Academies (AACA) champion Merion Mercy; defending state champion Radnor vs. AACA power Villa Maria Academy; and state qualifier Bayard Rustin vs. Inter-Ac power Baldwin School. Radnor was ranked 14th in the nation by Lacrosse Magazine last year.
Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor for the event should contact Clare Girton at 610-293-9984 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 610-293-9984 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
To learn more about the Katie Samson Foundation, click here.
Boys’ Field
(Game times, fields TBA)
Conestoga vs. Malvern Prep
Emmaus vs. Haverford School
Radnor vs. Germantown Academy
Abington vs. Downingtown East
Lower Merion vs. La Salle College High
Springfield-Delco vs. St. Joseph’s Prep
Shipley School vs. Archbishop Carroll
Brunswick School (CT) vs. Penn Charter
Lawrenceville School (NJ) vs. Episcopal Academy
Hatboro-Horsham vs. Archbishop Wood
Unionville vs. Tatnall School (DE)
Strath Haven vs. Downingtown West
Haverford High vs. Bishop Shanahan
Girls’ Field
(Game times, fields TBA)
Abington vs. Agnes Irwin School
Bayard Rustin vs. Baldwin School
Conestoga vs. Archbishop Carroll
Great Valley vs. Friends’ Central School
Harriton vs. Penn Charter
WC Henderson vs. Germantown Friends
Radnor vs. Villa Maria Academy
Ridley vs. Germantown Academy
Springfield-Delco vs. Episcopal Academy
Strath Haven vs. Merion Mercy Academy
Upper Dublin vs. Springside School
Unionville vs. Notre Dame Academy
Penncrest vs. Shipley School
Methacton vs. Bishop Shanahan
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