Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/25/09
Haverford College has stayed in-house to hire its new men’s lacrosse coach.
Today it was announced that four-year assistant coach Colin Bathory – a 1999 Haverford College graduate – has been named to replace Mike Murphy as the head coach.
Bathory, who has been the recruiting coordinator since coming back home, had spent two years as the head coach at Plano East High in Texas. Bathory also was an assistant at Shipley School for two years, the head coach at Auburn University in 2002 and an assistant at Hampden-Sydney College in 2003.
“Colin has been an integral component of the team’s success over the last few years,” said Haverford College Director of Athletics Wendy Smith. “After a national search it was evident that Colin was uniquely qualified to lead the lacrosse team’s quest for excellence, both academically and athletically, while maintaining the team’s commitment to community service and leadership within the broader Haverford community.”
Prior to his arrival on the Haverford sidelines, Bathory served as the head coach for two years at Plano East High School in Texas where his team reached the semifinals and finals in the Division II Texas state championship tournament. Before heading to Texas, Bathory was an assistant coach at Hampden-Sydney (Va.) College where he helped lead the Tigers to a quarterfinal appearance in the NCAA Division III national tournament. He also coached the Auburn (Ala.) University club team for one season (2002) and was an assistant with nearby Shipley School for two years (2000-2001).
“I am honored to be named the next head men’s lacrosse coach at Haverford College,” said Bathory. “This is a great opportunity for me and I look forward to continuing my relationship with the Haverford community. It is a world-class institution where the caliber of what it stands for and does, speaks for itself. I would like to thank Wendy Smith and her staff for this opportunity.”
Bathory earned a degree in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College through Haverford’s cooperative program with Bryn Mawr. On the playing field, he was a four-year letterwinner on the Fords lacrosse team and accumulated 305 groundballs, which is third-most in program history while his 115 career points ranks 19th all-time within the program.
He received the athletic department’s Varsity Club Award following his senior year and earned the team’s “Swan” (senior contributions) and “Gopher” (100+ ground balls) awards in ’99.
“Colin represented the true scholar-athlete as well as gained enormous respect from his peers for his helpfulness and support while he was a student here,” said Haverford’s Senior Advisor to Institutional Advancement and Lecturer Greg Kannerstein, the Athletic Director of the department at the time of Bathory’s hiring as assistant coach.
“He’s carried those traits back to Haverford in the role he’s had here so far, and I am sure that he will infuse the men’s lacrosse team with his attributes as well as upholding the winning tradition of the last several years.”
Bathory, who will begin his official duties as head coach on Sept. 1, has been serving as the interim coach of the program since Aug. 1 following the departure of previous head coach Mike Murphy who took over the reins of the University of Pennsylvania men’s lacrosse team.
Murphy compiled a 63-41 record in seven seasons, taking the Black Squirrels to consecutive NCAA Division III appearances in 2008 and 2009.
In 2009, Haverford College went 13-4 and tied for the Centennial Conference regular-season championship. Haverford fell to Gettysburg, 12-5, in the Centennial Conference championship game and then suffered a 16-10 defeat to Salisbury in the NCAA tourney. Murphy was named the league’s Coach of the Year.
In 2010, Haverford will return a host of key players, including rising junior Max Hjelm, a Conestoga grad who had 45 goals in 2009 and earned all-conference first-team honors.
Also returning are second-team all-conference picks Brian Fleishhacker (attackman, rising senior) and Grant Firestone (LSM, rising senior) and Honorable Mention selections Andrew Kim, Haverford (midfielder, rising senior) and Scott Kelley (defenseman, rising junior from Strath Haven).
