BEARSPORTSNEWS SUNDAY EDITION 06.06.2021

• Lacrosse—beat PVI in 1^st round of 1^st IAC-WCAC tournament

• Updates on ALUMNI baseball players Randy Bednar (L ’17), Dane Camphausen (L’19), Jake Davidson (L ’19) and Jack Cope (L’20) Taft School PG

  • plus a great story about Tai Alter (L’94) at Washington Nationals Foundation (thanks to Steve Davidson for the lead)!!!

• Good bye’s to three Bear Coaches

Inside the White Rocks

• Baseball—(7-6)

• Golf— (3-3)

• Lacrosse –(7-6) Bears beat higher seeded Paul VI 9-8 onto GP on 6/8 at Catholic University.

Congratulations to Jake Cohen ’21 (D/LSM), Nicholas Kopp ’21 (M/FO), Graham Hertzberg ’21 (A), and Cam Brown ’22 (M) on earning All-IAC honors. Additional congratulations to Jake for also being named an Under Armour All-American!

• Outdoor Track

• Tennis— (8-3)

Bear Tracks

College Baseball Update

Updates on college baseball players Randy Bednar (L ’17), Dane Camphausen (L’19), Jake Davidson (L ’19)and Jack Cope (L’20) Taft School plus Tai Alter (L’94)

Randy has led the Maryland Terps to the NCAA baseball tournament, currently playing in the Greenville, NC regional.  In the double elimination tournament (with the winner advancing to the Super Regional and the winner of that advancing to the College World Series), the second seeded Terps (29-17) have won one and lost one.  They lost to Charlotte and defeated Norfolk State.  Today at noon, the Terps have a rematch with Charlotte, with the winner advancing to take on East Carolina and the loser eliminated.  In the two games, Randy – batting fifth and playing right field — has collected three hits including two home runs.  Randy is hitting .311 with 7 homers and 10 stolen bases (in 10 attempts!).

 When the tournament is over, Randy will join the Frederick Keys to play in the MLB draft league.  The MLB draft this year is in July.

Dane was recently named first team all-conference for the Wooster College Scots.  The first baseman helped lead the Scots to a 25-13 record by hitting .355 with 8 homers and 39 RBI.  This summer, Dane will be playing for the Bradley College Eagles in the Northern Virginia summer league.

Jake also recently concluded his season for the Kenyon College Lords.  In a season truncated due to Covid restrictions, the Lords finished 7-7.  Jake was a relief pitcher, helping to solidify the Kenyon bullpen with a number of strong appearances.  He is playing for the D.C. Grays in the Cal Ripken Summer League.

Jack Cope  Taft School—headed to W&L.

Tal is Chief Executive Officer of Washington Nationals Philanthropies and of Chief Executive Officer at Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy and is involved with the Grays.  He was a baseball player at Haverford (’94-’98) [“a star shortstop at Haverford who led the team as captain his junior and senior years”] Then earned a Harvard M.Ed. Educational Leadership. A GREAT article on Tai by Haverford College.

THREE EXCEPTIONAL COACHES ARE LEAVING

Covering Landon Sports puts one in close proximity with the men and women who coach the Bears. The blogs tend not to provide insider views of the games and boys—just their play on the ice, the court or on the field. All I know about these 3 men is their behavior during the contests. From that perspective, their departure from the White Rocks will be a loss.

David Erickson came to Landon with an impressive NE prep school and college playing career, followed by a career of teaching and coaching. Dave taught the Bears a sophisticated game and the players appreciated playing at such pace. Each year his benches developed- more players were able to contribute at the end of the season. By the IAC and MAPHL playoffs,  all on the ice were skating, positioning, passing and shooting with more skills than the November practices, The 2020 season was quintessential Dave play—to win the 2 post season championships, Landon won 3 consecutive overtimes to take home both crowns. His players competed with confidence because they knew that Coach Erickson had taught them the right way to play.

Joe McDonald L’12 is considered an all-time great basketball at both Landon and George Washington—winning awards and championships throughout his career. Well known for his calm presence on the court, especially at crunch time, he knew what was needed to win. Episcopal High School still remembers Joe’s performance at the Barton Center ( 49-point, 18-rebound effort ) in 2012. Joe came back to help Landon reconnect with alumni. At Foggy Bottom four year starter led his Colonials to the NIT, where he was named to the all-tournament team. All too often when your phone ID reads that someone from Development is calling, you might pass; with the name Joe McDonald showing on their ID, very few Bears would pass. Joe worked with Coach Hajj Turner, who coached him at GWU.

Ian HealyL’00 is the antithesis of the dumb jock stereotype, graduating with honors and Phi Beta Kappa at Maryland(double major—history and philosophy) while playing for the Terps for 5 years (red shirt for an operation) and senior captain. Though earning an appearance in an All-Star game, Ian pursued his passion—teaching. Named head lax coach at another school, he choose to come home to work as an assistant to  “the person he most admires because “he has made a positive impact on the lives of so many kids and taught me about discipline, loyalty and honor.” When Coach Bordley retired, Ian was selected to take on an impossible challenge- following in the footsteps of a legend. In that role his skills as a teacher were most evident. Watching the team’s players develop over time, the impact of the coaching staff could be seen game-over-game, year-over-year. The father of one of Ian’s mentee and player took the time to indicate how much his son appreciated how much Coach Healy’s taught him in classes and on the field. The young man said that more than just rote information, Mr. Healy taught me to think!!!

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL THREE OF YOU