Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/15/11
From Press Releases
Gettysburg College head women’s lacrosse coach Carol Cantele ’83 can add another line to her resume as the Bullets’ mentor has been selected to the Strath Haven High School Wall of Honor.
The former Carol Daly, a graduate of Nether Providence High School, will be recognized at the Wall of Honor Ceremony on Oct. 21 at 9 a.m. at Strath Haven High School. The Wall of Honor is designed to recognize graduates of Nether Providence, Swarthmore, and Strath Haven High Schools who have made particularly noteworthy contributions in their professional fields or in the great community.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected to the Wall of Honor at Strath Haven High School where I join an amazing collection of individuals with a multiple of talents from the Delaware County region and specifically Nether Providence, Swarthmore and Strath Haven High Schools,” said Cantele.
Cantele’s post-high school career is filled with outstanding feats, making her a worthy candidate for the Wall of Honor. As a student-athlete at Gettysburg. she helped the field hockey program capture the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Division III title – the first national title of any kind in school history. She also steered the lacrosse program to its first appearance in the national playoffs.
After graduating from Gettysburg, Cantele began her tenure as one of the top collegiate lacrosse coaches in the nation. She received her first head coaching stint at Plymouth State University where she turned that program into a conference title contender.
In 1992, Cantele returned to Gettysburg to begin successful coaching stints in both field hockey and lacrosse. As head coach of the field hockey team from 1992 to 2001, she set a school record with 121 wins and guided the team to five conference titles.
Cantele has spent the last 19 years building the women’s lacrosse program into one of the premier programs in Division III. Cantele is the program’s all-time leader in victories with 267 and she has led the Bullets to six Centennial Conference titles and 11 NCAA appearances.
The selection to the Wall of Honor tops off an amazing year for Cantele and the Gettysburg lacrosse program. The team captured the school’s first-ever NCAA Division III championship in May and Cantele was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA). She was also named Coach of the Year in 2006 when the Bullets finished national runner-up.
In 2009, Cantele was awarded the Judith M. Sweet Commitment Ward by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), given to those individuals who have provided outstanding leadership and commitment to colleagues and student-athletes in intercollegiate athletics.
Since 2009, Cantele has also served as the head coach of the U.S. Developmental Team which serves as a launching pad for adult lacrosse players looking for international exposure and continued refinement of their skills, with the ultimate goal of becoming a member of the Elite or World Cup Team.
Cantele, who is also an assistant athletic director and Senior Woman Administrator at Gettysburg, has overseen the development of hundreds of student-athletes, both as a coach and as the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. On the lacrosse field, she has coached 30 Bullets to All-America recognition, including five national players of the year.
Off the field, Cantele’s student-athletes take part in a range of community service activities, including “Girls on the Run,” a program which aims to instill healthy body image and good eating and exercise habits in elementary school-aged girls in the local community. The women’s lacrosse team also played a major role in Adams County Youth Sports Day this past spring.
“It was in high school were my love of sports and with coaching and working with children developed,” said Cantele. “During my years at Nether Providence Middle school and high school, I was exposed to so many passionate and dedicated teachers and coaches and their enthusiasm was so contagious. They ignited fire in me and a desire to explore the world of teaching and coaching.”
Leave a Reply