It was a picturesque day at Radnor High School on Saturday, April 27 for the 13th annual Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival.
Katie Samson who played lacrosse at Middlebury College in Vermont was injured and became a quadriplegic in a sledding accident in the winter of 2000. Since then, Katie has been an inspiration to so many, creating the Katie Samson Foundation and working tirelessly in support of spinal chord injury research.
To date, her foundation has raised over $1,000,000 thanks to events like the lacrosse festival, which is a great day of games and family activities. On Saturday, there were 26 boy’s teams and 28 girls teams competing on seven fields in an all-day lacrosse marathon.
The lacrosse action was great, with some excellent games on the schedule. On the boys side, La Salle (PA) moved to 11-2 on the season, defeating the Haverford School (PA) in a tight contest by an 11-9 final. Also on the boys side, Brunswick (CT) took down Penn Charter (PA), 10-4 and Episcopal Academy (PA) knocked off Lawrenceville (NJ), 14-9 in completive games.
On the girls side, Conestoga (PA) knocked off Archbishop Carroll (PA) 12-9 while Harriton (PA) took down Great Valley (PA), 15-13.
One of the highlights of the day was a presentation that saw New York Giants MLB Mark Herzlich win with the 2013 Courage Award. Herzlich who played lacrosse in addition to football at Conestoga (PA) high school went on to play football at Boston College.
He was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma a rare form of bone cancer in 2009. But Herzlich refused to give in and overcame the disease, returning to the football field in 2010. He went undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, but made the NY Giants as a MLB and Special Teams Player. He is now a Super Bowl Champion (XLVI), and an inspiration to many across the country.
As a first time attendee, I was blown away by this event. Everything ran seamlessly, and the lacrosse action was something to behold. A great event for a great cause easily made this one of the great days on the Spring calendar.