2005 Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament

2005 Summit Lacrosse Tournament in Lake Placid, NY

By Reg Ungberg ’74

For the fifth consecutive year, a team of former Ohio Wesleyan lacrosse players competed at the Summit Lacrosse Tournament in Lake Placid, New York in the Grand Masters (age 45+) and Super Grand Masters (Age 50+) divisions. Also playing in the event were three recently graduated Bishop players for the Indoor Action Sports Lacrosse Club in the Men’s Open Division. The Summit Tournament (held August 10-14) featured 92 teams competing in seven divisions and is one of the major amateur lacrosse events in the U.S. for top male and female college and club players during the summer.

For the “old men,” our fifth season was partially successful as we got to the Championship Game in the new Super Grand Masters division before dropping a hard-fought 4-3 decision to the Polar Bears—an alumni team from Bowdoin College. The Grand Masters squad didn't not fare as well, dropping all four games—three by two goals or less. Most of the roster played in both divisions and playing two and three games each day took its toll.

The three young Bishop alumni—Frank Bedford ’03, Sorrel Coulson ’02, and Zach Gagel ’00 (Zach is also Assistant Coach of the OWU Men's team)—were part of the “surprise” team of the entire tournament. Providing scoring, defense and grit for the Indoor Action Sports group coached by Jeff Coulson ’71, the three were key performers on a squad that won the Championship in the super-competitive Men’s Open Division. Their squad beat all the odds and shocked the two favored teams (Newmark & Co. 13-12) in the semis and finals (Crease Monkeys 8-7) that included a “who’s who” roster of Division I players from Syracuse, Virginia, Duke, and Johns Hopkins. Jeff’s squad featured primarily talented Division III players from schools such as Nazareth, Hampden-Sydney, Hamilton, and, of course, OWU.

The two Masters teams were coached by current OWU Men’s Head Coach Sean Ryan and, once again, his lacrosse expertise, patience, and good humor on our sidelines was invaluable. This year’s participants included former players from OWU between ’65-’83: Pete Lee ’65, Jeff Coulson ’71, Rich Seiler ’72, Paul Myers ’74, Charlie Hartigan ’75, Pete Tracy ’75, Chuck Narwicz ’77, Brian Kingston ’78, Pete Zonino ’79, John Narwicz ’77, Eric Tillman ’77, and Thom Gilday ’83.

The OWU players (young and old) gathered together Saturday night at a reception hosted by Annie Griffith Seiler ’75, from the University Relations division of Ohio Wesleyan, and Masters team captains Charlie Hartigan ’75 and Pete Lee ’65. We were very fortunate to be joined by OWU President Mark Huddleston, Vice President Mark Richter, and Athletic Director Roger Ingles. Coach Sean Ryan reviewed the 2005 team highlights, showed a video from the current season and updated the gathered alumni about the encouraging prospects for the 2006 season. Also joining in the fun were OWU alums Steve Corrigan ’74, Tom Cowie ’75, Reg Ungberg ’74, Linda Wilk Tracy ’78, Marion Cannon Myers ’77, Amber Pinto Ryan ’79, Tim Tuttle ’81, Keith Blaney ’80, Howard Lessel ’81, and former OWU coach Steve Aubrey.

The Summit Tournament at Lake Placid continues to be a great event for OWU lacrosse and a wonderful reunion for players and their families. We would encourage any former players to consider either playing or supporting the teams. There is also a Women’s Open Division and two Men’s Masters Divisions (age 33-44) that include several alumni teams from Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, and West Point. In the Grand Masters and Super Grand Masters Division there are alumni teams from Denison, Bowdoin, Union, and Notre Dame. If any OWU alumni are interested in joining one of the present teams or organizing one in the other divisions please contact Steve Corrigan ’74 at stevecorrigan2@hotmail.com.