By Darryl Grumling
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/15/10
Hill School senior defenseman George Cornelson has committed to play NCAA Division III lacrosse at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
Cornelson will follow in the footsteps of former Hill School captain Kyle Swarts (Class of 2004) in playing for the Tigers, who went 9-6 last year playing an independent schedule. This season, Colorado College is one of five schools competing in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Guy Van Arsdale, the top assistant at Penn State the past six years, took over as Tigers coach in the offseason. Ridley grad Mike Podgajny, who starred at Notre Dame, is an assistant for the Tigers.
“I’ve been out west a bunch, and I like it out there,” said Cornelson, who is from Charlotte, N.C. “I knew I wanted to go to college out there, and I liked their program. I also liked the Division III kind of thing where it’s not your entire life, and you can go to school and graduate in four years.”
Cornelson, who played for Twist Lacrosse last summer, was originally recruited by previous coach David Zazzaro, who resigned after last season.
Cornelson is undecided on a major, but said he is leaning towards Environmental Science or Geology.
“It seems like they’re putting a lot of money and effort into the program,” Cornelson said. “One of the other main reasons I liked it was that they have 300 days of sun a year. It may seem like it’s cold, but they practice outside in February. The altitude and the weather were to my liking.”
For the time being, Cornelson is hoping to help Hill School improve on last season’s 5-8 mark.
“We lost a lot of talent, but I think we can still have a good season,” he said. “Our team this year is going to be a lot more connected, and (will) mesh a lot better.”
