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Sports

High School Sports: Laurel Prep Roundup

New lacrosse coach Kris Weaver creates family atmosphere with St. Vincent Pallotti boys program, new Laurel High football coach continues to build his staff while Laurel players aid Hampton in hoops.

St. Vincent Pallotti High has two new varsity head coaches this spring-- both of whom are no strangers to the athletics program at the private school in Laurel.

Kris Weaver is the new varsity boys lacrosse coach. He grew up in Laurel and is a former lacrosse standout for the Panthers and also played in college at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, PA. Weaver will have his work cut out for him, as Pallotti did not win a game in 2010.

"It is obviously every athlete's dream to go back and coach at their alma mater," Weaver told Laurel Patch on Thursday.

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Weaver was an assistant at Pallotti on the 2006 league title team in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and has coached travel lacrosse for several years, noting that Pallotti, "...had a tough year last year."

The former Pallotti standout is trying to create a family atmosphere with the program and last weekend he hosted the first Pallotti boys lacrosse alumni event. According to Weaver, 37 former players were on hand, including Justin Smith, who played at Salisbury University and at the pro level. Rob Weaver, the brother of Kris, was also in attendance. He played at McDaniel at the college level and graduated from Pallotti in 1998.

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pallotti won, 4-3, against Indian Creek on Tuesday in a scrimmage.

Another new head coach is Laura Horstkamp, who will be the fourth head coach in four years for the Pallotti softball team. She was an assistant coach last spring for the team, and is working to find a replacement for standout catcher Kelly Trimble. A right-handed hitter, Trimble is now on the roster for the Terps at the University of Maryland.

"We lost five graduating seniors and we lost six starters," said Horstkamp, who had one player transfer to Catonsville High. "We are building."

Pat Courtemanche returns as the head coach for the Pallotti baseball team this spring. He was pulling double-duty the past five years, but stepped down as head varsity football coach at the end of the 2010 season.

Paul Billingsley returns as the head coach for the Pallotti girls lacrosse team. He has coached for several years at the club level in Anne Arundel County.

The Laurel High baseball team is slated to play Saturday, March 12 at Wheaton in a scrimmage at 11 a.m., though wet fields could make that a "washout." The Laurel softball team is at Great Mills at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in another scrimmage, weather permitting.

The baseball team is at Lansdowne on March 16 in another scrimmage while the softball team has a scrimmage at Oakland Mills in Columbia that day.

In other Laurel High news, athletic director Terry Parfitt said Thursday that Laura Barrett will be the new varsity girls soccer coach in the fall. Barrett was an assistant last season under Parfitt, who will retire as athletic director in June after more than 20 years at the school. Barrett, who recently finished her master's degree at McDaniel, was the head coach for Laurel for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. She teaches at an elementary school in Prince George's County.

Parfitt added that Todd Sommerville, the new Laurel football coach, has been adding assistants to the program. "He is getting his staff together," Parfitt said. Sommerville has been a coach and physical education teacher at Parkdale High in Riverdale, but Parfitt expects he will be a teacher at Laurel High in the fall.

Sommerville takes over for Brian Moore, who was the head coach for three years before his contract was not renewed after the 2010 season. Sommerville is the fifth head coach at Laurel since long-time mentor Chuck Hickes stepped down in 2000.

Laurel players aid Hampton

The Hampton men's basketball team played Wednesday night against Maryland-Eastern Shore in the MEAC tournament in Winston-Salem, NC. The Hampton roster includes Laurel High graduates Chris Tolson, a junior guard; Milade Lola-Charles, a junior center;  Laurel resident Wesley Dunning, who played in high school at Gonzaga High in Washington, D.C.

Tolson had 11 points off the bench in a 77-55 win over UMES and Dunning had seven rebounds as Hampton advanced to the semifinals on Friday.

Hampton improved to 22-8 with the win while Maryland-Eastern Shore ended the season with a record of 9-22.

Also on Wednesday, the Howard men lost to Norfolk State in the MEAC tournament, 68-53. The Bison ended the season with a record of 6-24 in a year of several injuries to top players. One of the assistant coaches for Howard is Keith Coutreyer, a Laurel resident and the former boys varsity basketball coach at Laurel High. 

Towson misses Laurel products

The Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament began Thursday at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro. Towson entered the tourney with a record of 9-20 and 3-15 in the CAA one season after losing several top seniors, including Laurel High graduate Kandace Davis and Laurel resident Haliena Snowden, who played in high school at Seton Keough. Towson played Drexel in the fourth of four games on Thursday.

Laurel golfer gains honor

Emily Kwak of Laurel was named co-Colonial Athletic Association women's golfer of the week on Thursday as a senior at Towson University. She became the first female golfer in the five-year history of the Towson program to win a tourney. Kwak is in her second season at Towson after playing for two years at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma.

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