Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/26/17
From Press Release
The Duke’s Lacrosse Club has announced that program graduates Conor Gaffney (Lenape-NJ, Lehigh) and Erik DiGirolamo (Parkland, Lehigh) have each been awarded $250 in book scholarship money in the name of the late Ricky Whelan.
Whelan, a popular Duke’s player who starred at Brown, passed away in his sleep over 12 years ago.
Whelan exemplified the quality of player and person by exhibiting drive and determination the Dukes wish to promote. Whelan played for Ashbee Lacrosse, Episcopal Academy and Brown University, and was an was an Honor student and standout player at Brown where he was voted the team’s Unsung Player as a senior.
The Dukes continue to honor Whelan by naming their development clinics after him. These clinics are offered each Fall for current Dukes players or those aspiring to play for the club.
Gaffney was a US Lacrosse All-American at Lenape in 2016 and helped lead Indians to the SJ Group 4 finals by winning more than 80 percent of his face-offs. Impressive in the classroom, he posted a 6.0 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted) at Lenape and finished tied for first in his class, was the Senior Male Outstanding, and Student-Athlete of the Year. As a freshman at Lehigh he was a standout, finishing eighth nationally in faceoff percentage (.610) and fifth in groundballs in per game (8.00), He closed the year by winning 139-of-228 draws while collecting a team-high 96 groundballs. He is majoring in Engineering.
As a senior at Parkland, DiGirolamo was first team All-Eastern PA Conference, first team Morning Call All-Area and the Defensive MVP for Parkland. He also was a captain of the Dukes Lacrosse Club team. He was a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor. He was a member of the Principal’s List freshman through senior year for a 4.0 GPA or higher, taking AP, Honors and GHP courses. He was on the Eastern PA Conference Student Athletic Character Council and was the 2016 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Scholar-Athlete for lacrosse. He also was named Boys First Place for the Pansini Law Group Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll Award for the 2015 season by Phillylacrosse.com. At Lehigh he finished his freshman year with two goals on two shots, an assist, 11 groundballs and two caused turnover in 13 games, with four starts, seeing time at both close defense and long-stick midfield.
Past winners
2015
Dustin Buchanan (Central Bucks East/St. Joseph’s)
Matt Petrick (Kennett HS/Drexel)
2014
Tyler Butler (CB East/Penn State)
Mikey Zadroga (Upper Merion/Marquette/Cabrini)
2013
Trevor Kupecky (Upper Merion/Hofstra)
Jimmy Murphy (Hatboro Horsham/Marist)
2012
Chris Panichelli (Bishop Shanahan/Drexel)
Bryan Garrahan (Archmere/St Joseph’s University)
2011
Joe McCallion (Haverford School/UPENN)
Jeff Heath (St. Joe’s Prep/Delaware)
2010
Ahmad Zachary (Lower Merion/Vermont) *was a co-captain at Vermont
Adam Yee (Penncrest/Hartford)
2009
Grady Stevens (Unionville/Hopkins) current grad asst coach at Hopkins
David Alyanakian (Strath Haven/Delaware/Lynchburgh)