BEARSPORTSNEWS SUNDAY EDITION 06.13.2021

• Updates on college baseball player Randy Bednar (L ’17), who just completed a great career at UMd.

• Hayden Evans L*21 after a UK PG career heads to Michigan to play GK for the Wolverines

• News from the 100^th Maryland State Amateur Championship

• Lacrosse—lost to GP in 2^nd  round of 1^st IAC-WCAC tournament

• Good bye’s to three Bear Coaches

Inside the White Rocks

• Baseball—(7-6)

• Golf— (3-3) see below

• Lacrosse –(7-7) Bears lost to #5 GP for the 4^th time. Never in the history of Landon lacrosse has a Bear team had to play such a talented team that many times,

• Outdoor Track

• Tennis— (8-3)

Bear Tracks

College Baseball Update

Randy Bednar (L ’17),has led the Maryland Terps to second place in the B1G and to the NCAA baseball tournament for first time since 2017. The Terps were 2-2 in the Greenville, NC regional losing to ECU in the elimination game.  In his senior season, Randy  hit .317 with 7 homers and 10 stolen bases (in 10 attempts!) and 23 RBIs. His career numbers are .284 with 26 homers and 31 stolen bases and 109 RBIs

 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.

College Soccer

University of Michigan men’s soccer head coach Chaka Daley announced Monday (June 7) the additions of five newcomers to the team’s 2021 roster. 

Hayden Evans L*21 | Goalkeeper | 6-4/200 | McLean, Va. (Landon School) | Salford City Academy, UK

Evans played with Salford City FC in Manchester, England, the last two seasons. The squad was the 2019-20 Northwest Youth Alliance Champion, reached the third round of the 2020-21 FA Youth Cup – the furthest in club history, and were the English Football League (EFL) Trophy Cup champion in 2019-20, winning at Wembley Stadium. He was named first team Match Day Squad at 16, first team debut in EFL Trophy Cup match at age 17 and was named first team Match Day Squad for every match in 2020-21. Evans attended Laurel Springs High School and the Landon School, graduating in 2021 while earning MVP and Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the year honors and a place on the academic honor roll.

Daley on Evans: “Hayden is coming from an extremely competitive environment where he has gained some invaluable big-match experience. He has safe hands and very good fundamentals all around. At 6-4, he is a formidable presence for a goalkeeper of his age.”

Current and Alumni Golf

Fractions of information from the 100^th Maryland State Amateur Championship:

 “Mike Blasey, L’14, Davidson ‘18 Columbia Country Club  posted 67. At the end of regulation, there were 12 players at 73 chasing the last two available places in the draw. Nine appeared for the playoff and Ralph Blasey, IV, Columbia Country Club (10th hole) got in with a birdie. Jimmy Grem, Hunt Valley GC, who worked hard in the 90-degree heat to collect 1-up wins over Mike Blasey, Columbia CC, 

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 later 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!!!