By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 9/23/09
Haverford School junior midfielder Carl Walrath has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Virginia.
Walrath, who helped the Fords claim a share of the Inter-Ac League title in 2009 and was ranked as the No. 20 Young Guns Rising Juniors this summer by Inside Lacrosse magazine, becomes the third of Philly’s highly-rated junior class to commit to an Atlantic Coast Conference school.
This summer Penn Charter attackman Joey Sankey committed to North Carolina and Tuesday night La Salle attackman Kevin Forster committed to Maryland.
Walrath, who had 16 goals and 10 assists in 2009, was a first-team All-Inter-Ac League pick and an Honorable Mention All-Phillylacrosse.com choice. He played on the Philly team in the Under Armour Underclassmen Games in 2008 and also plays for the Duke’s Lacrosse Club.
Walrath said he also considered North Carolina and Duke and plans to study business.He made his choice Monday after making his visit to UNC and deciding that Virginia was still the pick.
“I loved it there (Virginia) when I visited,” Walrath said. “I really like the campus and all the coaches are very nice. On the way home I could tell it was the right fit for me.
“Last weekend I did take my visit to North Carolina. I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision. I had a good time there also, and I really liked the coaching staff. But I still felt like UVA was the right fit.”
At Virginia, Walrath will join two former Haverford standouts, former teammate and defenseman Peter Borror (sophomore) and midfielder/attackman John Haldy (junior).
Walrath also is a standout on the Fords’ football team, which is off to a 2-1 start. He plays running back and has over 300 yards rushing. On Saturday he rushed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns in Haverford’s 42-21 win over Lawrenceville (N.J.).
Walrath, who plans to study business, was impressed with the academics at Virginia.
“That was important to me,” he said. “I wanted to get to a school with good academics and good lacrosse, and a school where I could have fun.
“They have a good lacrosse team, obviously, and it’s ranked as one of the top business schools.”
Walrath was happy with the Haverford connection at Virginia. He got to know Haldy when he was an 8th grader at Haverford and got to spend lots of time with Borror during his visit to Charlottesville.
“I got to practice with the varsity in 8th grade and I got to know Haldy,” he said. “I played with Pete when I was a freshman. I am friends with both and I even got to (room) with Pete when I visited.”
Walrath, who also returns kicks for the Haverford School football team, said playing football and also basketball has helped his lacrosse game.
“It helps me being a running back because I get to work on moves,” he said. “And when I’m in the open field it’s a lot like lacrosse; you’re dodging someone.
“I also think playing basketball helps a lot in the offensive schemes. It’s a lot like the offense (in lacrosse) and a lot of the offense translates between basketball and lacrosse.”
Walrath is focusing now on football. In five months, he will be focusing on a lacrosse team that will have high expectations due to a standout junior class and some top-rated seniors.
“I try to stay away from all the talk about lacrosse season,” he said. “Now, it’s football season.
“A lot of people are saying my junior class (is strong) and that there are a lot of high expectations for our team. I know all of our teammates have high expectations and we’ll try to work hard and fill the expectations.”
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