LABC
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
I would like to give you an
update on the Lafayette Athletic Booster Club activities so far for the year.
The fall is always busy with fundraising and this year is no different. Our annual budget has grown to $16,700 and we
have to work hard to reach this goal. Our
biggest money maker is our annual golf tournament held at the Fords Colony Country
Club. Our turnout this year was smaller
than in past
years, but thanks to the hard work of those who ran the tournament, corporate
sponsors, and hole sponsors, it ended up being one of the most successful
fundraisers we have ever had. Thanks to Selene Pinkett for organizing and running the tournament and Betty
Ann Jones for beating the pavement to bring the many prizes that we were to
able give the golfers. Many thanks to all the companies and parents who were
the hole sponsors and the corporate donors. We raised approximately $5,500. We also count
tremendously on our concession revenue, which has been headed up by Helen Lapetina, her mother Sue Williams, and Patty Banks for
several years. They generated more than
$2,000 at our football concession stands with the help of the many parent
volunteers from all fall sports teams.
The final fundraiser and the one that everyone can help with is our
Booster Club Membership drive. Please
don’t think that your $15.00 membership fee can’t make a difference. We have well over 400 athletic families at Lafayette
and if each one would join, we would raise $6,000. To date only 113 families have joined. MAKE A DIFFERENCE – join your son's or
daughter's Athletic Booster Club. We want to accomplish a lot of things, but we
need revenue. This year we have helped to open a new $20,000 training room, pay
for weight training coaches for all Lafayette Rams to get physically stronger
and faster, started a new website to inform all parents of athletic scheduling
as well as allowing college coaches a place to go and see our athletes in
action. In addition, each year we put
funds in the Lafayette Athletic Educational Foundation to provide two $500.00
scholarships and try to add some pieces of needed equipment when we have enough
funds to do so. Thanks for all your
help. On another note, if you can see
yourself getting more involved and trying to make a difference in your Booster
Club, please call Dan Barner at 565-0440.
We are always in need of future officers to take the Booster Club into
the future. I hope you all go out and support the winter and spring sports and as always –
GO RAMS!
Dwight Pinkett - President
LAFAYETTEBOOSTERS.COM
It is new and it is still under
construction, but it is up and running.
If you want the latest, get to your computer and check it out. Get all
the schedules, phones numbers, e-mail addresses, booster club notes and many
other happenings. Got a suggestion on
how to make it better? Just e-mail
us. Want to see a score or find out if a
game has been postponed? Just type in LAFAYETTEBOOSTERS.COM. Do it today and let us
know what you think.
AD’s CORNER: by Dan Barner
GOOD,
OUTSTANDING, VERY GOOD, THE BEST, ALL = THE LAFAYETTE RAMS OF THE
FALL: The fall season in Williamsburg is truly a wonderful time
of the year for Lafayette students. In the air is the
sense of excitement and the challenge of another school year, the just so
perfect daily weather conditions, the rekindling of old friendships and the
fostering of many new ones,and of course, all the
annual accomplishments by our Ram fall athletes. Ah, our 2005 fall athletes, and what a group
they are! The best or
maybe the most outstanding? What
would you call this group of 300 young student/athletes who bonded together this
fall to organize and run a fund raiser for the Angels of Mercy, a much needed
blood drive for the American Red Cross and performed many hours of service in
helping the likes of the Virginia Department of Highways, the Powhatan Water
Shed, and the YMCA? What would you call
this group who went out and in just two weeks raised just under $10,000.00 for
the Katrina Hurricane Relief Fund? What
would you call this group who during the first nine-week grading period saw 66%
of them earn a 3.0 or higher GPA? What would you call this group who won five
of the Bay Rivers District's eight fall championships (Jamestown won another two leaving
only one championship to the other eight district schools)? What would you call
this group who won an outstanding 79% of all their games, had four teams,
including our drama team, finish in the top eight in the state and who together
made Lafayette the only school in the district to have all eight of its fall
teams finish the season in the upper half of the league’s final standing? What would you call this group that had 32
athletes earn some type of post-season honor and 75% of those honored athletes
earn a 3.0 or higher GPA for the first nine weeks? Good? Outstanding? Very good? The best? Call them what
you may, but from my stand point I know two things about this group. First, I know that we ask an awful lot from
each and every one of them. We expect
them to be high achievers in the classroom and on the field of play. We expect them to help others in need, to be
exemplary citizens and to always show good sportsmanship. And this fall our
Rams have met this challenge and consistently exhibited the ability to
accomplish it all. Second, I know that I am extremely fortunate to be in a
position to see the day in and day out efforts of this group of young athletes,
and that I get the privilege to share with them the excitement of all their
many accomplishments. Outstanding? Great? Very good? I don’t know. But what I do know is that this
group, just like the ones before them, is truly a bunch of really good kids who
not only know how to make good things happen, but also know how to do it in a
manner that should make every citizen in this community proud. Isn’t it just great to be a Lafayette Ram!
Leading the way this fall on
the field of play was our undefeated girls and boys cross country teams. Both went 9 and 0 and won the district
championship. Our girls also won the
Region 1 championship and placed 6th in the VHSL. Our boys finished the season as the Region 1
runner-up and the 7th place team in the state. Our cheerleading team won the district
championship, was the Region 1 runner-up and placed 8th at the VHSL
state competition. Our field hockey team
won their third straight district title with an 8 and 0 record. However, on a disappointing note, their
season ended abruptly with a first-round upset loss in the Region 1 tournament
to the eventual state champions. Our football team ended their season at 7 and
3 and did not make the playoffs for the first time in nine years, thus ending the
longest streak in the state of seven seasons that a single school has played in
consecutive region championship games.
Also, the seven wins dropped our Rams to the number two spot in the
state for the most wins in “AA” the past nine years. Our golf team finished
their season as the district number four team and our volleyball team finished
as the number five team in the district.
Neither team qualified for the Region 1 tournament this year. Finally, our drama team won the district championship
and for the first time ever won the Region 1 championship. As mentioned above, all our Ram fall teams
finished the season in the upper half of the district and we were the only
school in the district to accomplish this.
What makes this feat so impressive is that we have done this 12 times out of the 25 sports seasons (nine plus years)
that we have been in “AA”. No other school in the district has been able to
accomplish this more than four times. As
always, “Great job Lafayette Rams!”
THE VIRGINIA
SPORTS HALL OF FAME AND OUR OWN MALLORY McCLAINE: On Saturday, November 12 at their annual Hall of
Fame dinner, this organization honored Mallory as one of their Athlete Achievement Award winners. Mallory was one of only four athletes in all
of Hampton Roads to be selected for this honor. The winners of this very
prestigious award are selected on their success both on and off the field of
play. During her four years at Lafayette, Mallory has shown over and
over to be a
pillar of athletic success. By the time
she graduates this June, Mallory will have earned 14 letters in cross country,
swimming, indoor track and outdoor track.
She will have been a part of two (hopefully three by the end of the
winter season) state championship teams, have earned all-district
honors 9 times and all-region honors 9 times. In the classroom Mallory has a 4.2
GPA, is a member of the National Honor
Society, and the Latin and Spanish Honor Societies. She is the President of the Lafayette Leo
Club, which is a Jr. Lion’s Club made up of LHS athletes who perform various
community service projects. She has also
given much time to the Special Olympics.
Mallory has been an outstanding leader for 4 years and is one of the
reasons why Lafayette Athletics is the best.
Congratulations Mallory!
SPORTSMANSHIP
AWARDS: Each
sports season, one athlete from each team is named the recipient of our
Sportsmanship-Integrity- School Spirit award.
This is the most prestigious award given to our athletes during a sports
season. The winner of this award is
selected by a committee of students.
This fall’s recipients are: Field
Hockey – Erin Lacey, Cheerleading – Brianna Crockett, Girls Cross Country –
Keely Flynn, Boys Cross Country – Brad Davis, Golf – Kyle Smethurst, Football – Lorenzo
Christian, Volleyball – Emily Cetrone.
Congratulations to these athletes for being selected by their peers as
the winners of this award.
MILESTONES: Stasia Abid: After earning All-State
honors as a freshmen and sophomore in soccer, Stasia
decided this year to give cross country a try. What a great decision for both Lafayette and for herself. Stasia became only
the second Ram runner since we became “AA” nine years ago to win the Bay Rivers
District and Region 1 championship. She
finished the year by making
the VHSL All-State team. Chandon Hudgins, Sierra Sternberg
& Kelly McHenry: All three were named to the VHSL All-State Field
Hockey team. All three were also named
to the All-District and All-Region 1 team. Chandon, also earned
All-State honors last year as a junior.
All three were members of the 2003 State Championship team and three
straight District
championship teams. Chandon and Sierra
also ended their four years by playing in more victories than any other LHS
field hockey player. Steven Kitchen and
Matt Mares: To date, the All-State football team has not been named but
Steven and Matt are candidates because of the first team selection to the
All-Region 1 team. Steven was an All-State selection last year. George Pittman: George ended his LHS football
career by playing in more games and in more victories than any other player in
the school’s history. In four years George never missed a
single game. He also became the only
player in the proud history of Lafayette football to rush for over
1,000 yards for four straight seasons.
George finished his career as the all-time leader in yards gained at
5,626 and touchdowns scored
at 54. George was named to
the All-State team as a junior and was a two-time All-District and All-Region
selection. Kyle Hughes: Kyle, like
George, was a four-year starter and played in every game except for one this
year. He leaves the program as the most
prolific passer in the school's history.
He is the only LHS quarterback to throw for over 1,000 yards for two
straight years and is the all-time leader in passing with 4,153 yards. Kyle
also has the record for the most touchdown passes in a year and career.
ACADEMIC HELP: Just a reminder. If your
child needs help with their academic work, please do not hesitate to call our
athletic/academic advisor, Mr. Keven Jones. He is monitoring many of our athletes on a
weekly basis, but your input is needed if your son/daughter is having an
academic problem. Coach Jones is a very caring educator and has done an
excellent job the past few years in helping many of our athletes become better
students. Again, don’t wait until it is
too late. Coach Jones can help. You can
reach Coach Jones by calling 565-4236 and asking for his voice mailbox. He will return your call as soon as possible.
Also, if your son or daughter is a junior, please make sure that you look at
the important dates for the SAT and ACT that are listed on the back sheet.
LHS ATHLETIC
HALL OF FAME: On
Friday, October 7th the third class of athletes was inducted into the Lafayette
Athletic Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees included: Alvin Cauthorn, class of 1974, who was a
member of the first Lafayette senior class and the first
that went to the state football championship game. He was an All-State and All-American quarterback
and also was a standout in both basketball and track. After graduation Alvin played at North Carolina Central University where he set nine football
records. He now lives in Suitland, Md. and is the offensive
coordinator for the Howard University football team. Kathryn Hermance,
class of 1988, was an All-District field hockey and softball player. She led the Ram field hockey team to two
Peninsula District Championships and had a 34-5 record as a pitcher on the LHS
softball team. As a senior she was 10-1
and had 97 strikeouts in only 75 innings. Kathy played field hockey at James Madison University and is now a registered
nurse in Wallingford. Pa. Seneca Lassiter, class of 1995 was a two-time High School National
Champion in the mile run. He was an eight-time VHSL State Champion in the 1600
and 3200 meter runs. While at the University of Arkansas, Seneca was a two-time NCAA
National Champion and a two-time runner-up.
He holds a number of school records at Arkansas. Following graduation, he was a three-time
United States Champion and has 8th fastest time ever for an American
in the 1500 meters. Seneca is the staff
coordinator at Youth Bridge youth facility in Springdale, Arkansas. Mike Bucci is the first coach to be
inducted into the Hall of Fame. Mike was
the first athletic director and football coach at Lafayette and led the Rams to their
first ever VHSL State Championship in football in 1973. He was also the head of the Physical
Education department at LHS and was the track and golf coach. He coached NFL
greats Ron Springs and Lawrence Taylor. Mike
was a standout high school football, basketball and golf athlete at New Castle High School in Pennsylvania. He was a scholarship football player at the College of William and Mary where he was a
center and linebacker. He currently is
the General Manager of Prudential McCardle Realty
here in Williamsburg.
STRENGTH AND
CONDITIONING ROOM: Coach Wheeler has the strength and conditioning room going full blast.
Monday through Friday, from 3:00pm to 4:45pm, Coach works out any
athlete that is not in season. Each training session consists of strength
training and speed work. Each day from 5:00pm to 6:30pm, Coach works with athletes
on in-season teams. Since we started our
strength and conditioning program eight years ago, we have always stressed the
importance of having our athletes become stronger, faster and more physically
fit. Off-season strength and conditioning is
essential for all our athletes, not only for better performance, but also for
safety and reducing the risk of injuries. Each year more and more athletes are
taking advantage of this great opportunity. The major benefits (not only
physically but also psychologically) of this program will enhance our athletes'
ability to perform at a much higher level. We ask you to strongly encourage
your son or daughter to get involved with this program. We would also like to
encourage you to come and visit one of the workouts so that you can get a first
hand look at this outstanding program that Coach Wheeler has put together. For
all upper-classman, LHS now offers a strength and
conditioning class during the school day.
It is an elective PE class that is worth one credit. If you would like more information on this
class or have questions concerning the strength and conditioning program,
please give me a call at 565-0440. Again, please encourage your son or daughter
to get involved with this program.
Finally, as I have had the
honor of saying after each sports season for the past nine years, this fall we
again had another outstanding athletic season at Lafayette High School. We have had many exciting and priceless
moments and have seen our athletes achieve much success. Although a large
number of athletes mentioned in this newsletter received some type of
post-season honor, it is extremely important for everyone to know and
understand that our success is based on the hard work and achievement of all
our athletes. We have been very
fortunate at LHS to have so many athletes, starters and substitutes alike, who
have daily “stepped up to the plate” and have done what they needed to do to be
successful. We should all be proud of
each and every one of them.
GO
RAMS!
SENIORS
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GO TO:
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SAT TESTING
Testing Date Registration
Date
April 1 January
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May 6 April
3
June 3 April
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MORE INFO
AT:WWW. COLLEGEBOARD.COM
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Testing Date Registration
Date
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