Women's Lacrosse Welcomes A Class Of Nine
07/25/2008 | Women's Lacrosse
July 25, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Head coach Sue Murphy welcomes nine incoming freshmen to the, three-time defending Atlantic 10 Regular Season Champion, Spiders' lacrosse team. Standout players have been drawn from all over the country to join the reloaded Richmond squad.
"I am pleased to welcome this outstanding class of student-athletes to our lacrosse program," coach Murphy commented. "This is a very talented class from all across the country possessing a high level of athleticism and lacrosse talent. We are confident that they will impact our program and help catapult us to a higher level nationally and within our Atlantic 10 conference."
The Spiders welcome two Virginia natives, Sarah Vinall and Mary Flowers, while, Kalyn McDonough, Molly Early, Sam Tajirian, and Victoria Roebuck, all hail from Pennsylvania. Also, Elizabeth Donahue will be traveling cross-country from the sunshine state of California to join the class of 2012, along with Kelley Bartlett, from New Jersey, and Caitlin Fifield, from New York.
Elizabeth Donahue, a defender from Poway, Calif., helped lead Poway High School to a San Diego Section CIF Championship. Donahue was selected for the US Lacrosse Pacific National Team, received First Team North County Times honors, First Team UT All-Section and First Team Hall of Champions All-Section honors, and was a two-time First Team All-Palomar League and First Team All-CIF honoree.
Caitlin Fifield is an attacker/midfielder from North Babylon, N.Y. where she attended North Babylon High School. Fifield earned All-American honors her senior year and was named an Academic All-American two times. Throughout her career, Fifield received honors such as Suffolk County Division I All-Tournament Team and Suffolk All-County Award. Other honors include Team MVP and Suffolk County Scholar Athlete. This past season Sports Illustrated rated her amongst the Takkle Top 100 High School Lacrosse Players in the country.
Kalyn McDonough, a midfielder from Kennett Square, Pa., attended Unionville High School where she received First Team All-Ches-Mont League honors, Academic All-American honors and All-Southern Chester County League honors. At Unionville McDonough was also named to the All-Ches-Mont League Second Team, All-Phillylacrosse.com Team and earned Student Athlete of the Week by Phillylacrosse.com.
Kelley Bartlett, out of Moorestown, N.J., is a defender from the fifth ranked program in the nation, Moorestown High School. After helping her team to a 24-1 record in 2008, Bartlett was selected to the South Jersey Select Pink Team and 2007 National Draw All-Tournament Team.
Virginia native Mary Flowers is a midfielder from Cape Henry Collegiate, where she received First Team All-TCIS honors all four years, First Team All-State for two years, and was named TCIS Conference MVP on three occasions. She has also been recognized as the 2007 Virginia State Player of Year, and was named to the All-American First Team in 2008.
Molly Early, an attacker from Radnor High School in Pennsylvania will also join the Spiders in the fall. As a two-year varsity starter Early earned Second Team All-Central League honors and as a senior helped Radnor to an undefeated season earning a Central League Championship
Four-year varsity starter, Sam Tajirian is a midfielder out of Springfield, Pa. As team captain and leading scorer, Tajirian led Springfield High School to its third consecutive District Title in 2008. At Springfield Tajirian also received First Team All-Central League honors, was named First Team All-Delco, an All-Galaxy Honorable Mention selection and received Academic All-American honors.
Midfielder, Sarah Vinall, the native of Fairfax, Va., attended W.T. Woodson High School, where she was rated amongst the top 100 High School Lacrosse Players by Sports Illustrated. Vinall is a two-time First Team Liberty District and First Team Northern Region honoree. She also garnered All-American Honorable Mention honors and was named Liberty District Player of the Year. With the completion of the 2008 season, Vinall was voted her team's MVP and the W.T. Woodson High's Female Athlete of the Year. She also received US High School Lacrosse All-American honors and First Team Washington Post All-Extra Team.
Goalkeeper, Victoria Roebuck, from Philadelphia, Pa., attended Springside School. Roebuck was named Springside's team MVP and the school's Blue and Gold Most Outstanding Athlete two times. She was also named to the All-Inter Academic Athletic League First Team and was given the Phyllis M. Vare Sportsmanship Award.
The class of 2012 will join a youthful Richmond team composed of five seniors, four juniors and 11 sophomores. Losing just five starters and returning seven, the Richmond women's lacrosse team will welcome a powerful class of nine.