By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/23/09
Cheri McMonagle looks back at 13 years of coaching girls’ lacrosse at Marple Newtown with only fond memories.
“I’d have to say the best part of coaching has always been the kids,” said McMonagle, who recently resigned to spend more time with her family and has been replaced by Marple Newtown grad and former Penn State teammate MaryAnn Foley Schiller.
“It’s always been my goal to not only teach lacrosse but to instill in the kids a desire to achieve excellence at school, practice, games, at home and in the community,” added McMonagle a Haverford High grad. “It’s been a privilege to be able to watch so many student-athletes go through our program and experience success beyond high school and beyond the lacrosse field.”
McMonagle, the starting goalie on Penn State’s national championship team in 1989, led the Tigers to the District 1 (state) championship in her first season as head coach in 1995 after spending two years as an assistant. She also won Central League crowns in 1995-96.
McMonagle coached five high school All-Americans, Jamie Haas, Julie Weiss, Sarah Hughes, Danielle Battersby and Ashlee Haas. Also, one of her players, Rachael Becker, went on to be an All-American and Tewaaraton Trophy winner (2004) at Princeton.
A teacher in the district since 1996, McMonagle had planned to step down after the 2009 season. She had taken off two years in 2004 and 2005 after her son was born.
“I always had it in the back of my mind that, after returning I would dedicate 4 years with the then freshmen class (class of 2009) and retire once they graduated,” she said. “I decided to step down to spend more time with my family.
“My 6-year-old son plays lacrosse and baseball in the spring so I didn’t want to miss anymore of his (games).”
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