>>DIGEST
Jeff Keith, a one-time Boston College goalie, became the first cancer survivor and amputee to run across America. Today he coaches his son’s youth team in Fairfield, Conn.
How did you get and overcome cancer?
I was playing peewee hockey one morning, skating down the ice on a fast break when
I got tripped from behind, and life changed forever. I hit into the boards and [doctors] found a crack in my knee. Then they found a tumor. Within a week I was on the table, and my leg was amputated. Today you have pictures of amputees running in the Olympics. But back then, prosthetics were archaic. Competitive sports weren’t an option. Recreational sports were only a possibility. I said to myself, if I could ski, I could do anything. So my parents got me skiing within six weeks. It was Haystack Mountain in Vermont — not a big mountain, but it’s a symbol.
What did you do next? I focused on getting back into sports.
I started playing youth lacrosse and skiing. Skiing came easy, because I skied on one leg. My best friend Matt Vossler and I were captains of the Fairfield (Conn.) Prep ski team in high school and were both on the lacrosse team. We said we wanted to go to Boston College, be roommates and play Division I lacrosse. My dream came true. Lacrosse was my saving grace. My
support group was my teammates. I made lifelong friends. Many members of my lacrosse team at BC have helped me launch three nonprofits and quietly have given financial support.
Tell me more about the run across America.
I had a 16-pound wooden leg until they
started introducing plastic prosthetics my junior year of college. That’s when I started to become more mobile. That allowed me to run across the country. I did 16-17 miles a day for eight months and visited hospitals. Highlights? Meeting President Reagan a few times, throwing the first pitch at a New York Mets baseball game and dropping the puck at the NHL All-Star Game in ’85 was pretty cool. But the most rewarding thing was just meeting survivors across the country and hearing their stories of courage. — Matt DaSilva
A Publication of US Lacrosse Jeremy Noble Denver Men to Join
Big East Next Season Denver will move to the Big East men’s conference for the 2014 season, joining Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova, as well as Rutgers, who will remain with the league for one more season before leaving for the Big Ten.
The Pioneers are leaving the ECAC, which they have been a part of since 2010. Denver also signed coach Bill Tierney to a contact extension through the 2017 season.
Attendance Drops The 2013 NCAA Division I men’s title game drew 28,224 spectators to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, making it the lowest attended championship game since 2002, the last time the event wasn’t held in an NFL stadium. Championship weekend attendance, including the D-I semifinals and D-I, D-II and D-III finals, was 79,179, continuing a trend of six-year decline. Meanwhile, the Division I women’s final at Villanova, Pa., drew 9,391 fans, close to the all-time high of 9,782 set at Towson in 2010. On the TV viewing front, Sports Business Journal reported 688,000 viewers tuned into the Division I men’s title game on ESPN. Also for the first time, the championship game was available live entirely via SkyCam view on ESPNU.
Baum Chooses LXM
over MLL Peter Baum, the No. 1 overall pick of MLL’s Ohio Machine in the 2013
collegiate draft, elected to play on the LXM PRO Tour following the conclusion of his decorated college career at Colgate. Baum, an Oregon native, has close ties to the tour, which is based on the West Coast and merged with Adrenaline Lacrosse last year. Baum played and coached in Adrenaline’s youth club programs, and he will have a full-time job with Adrenaline’s marketing team.
“My decision to join Adrenaline and LXM PRO has everything to do with my desire to help usher in the new generation of conscientious lacrosse athletes in the areas that I have a personal connection with,” Baum said.
In Cordingley’s four-year tenure, the Rock reached the NLL final in his first two seasons. Toronto lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2012 and was ousted in the first round this year.
Haverford Senior
Taviano Passes Away Haverford School (Pa.)
senior Kip Taviano, who had committed to play for the new Division I men’s program at Furman starting in the fall of 2013, was killed in a car accident May 28. He was 17. Taviano, a member of the Fords’ team that won this year’s Inter-AC Invitational title, was remembered for his “affable personality,” the school said in a statement. “Kip was loved by all who knew him, and he will be missed dearly.”
Ireland Resigns at William and Mary
Brooke Ireland on May 22 resigned as
William and Mary women’s head coach after two seasons leading the Tribe. She posted a 9-24 record overall and 4-10 mark in CAA play.
Cordingley Out as
Toronto Rock Coach Toronto Rock general
manager Terry Sanderson announced May 31 that head coach Troy Cordingley had been relieved of his duties. Assistant coach John Lowell was promoted to head coach. Sanderson, an assistant for the past four seasons with the team, also said he will step down from the bench as the team’s defensive coach.
41st Vail Shootout The 41st annual Vail Lacrosse Shootout runs from June 29-July 7 in Colorado, with play in eight divisions: men’s and women’s elite, men’s masters, grandmasters and supermasters, under-19 boys’ and girls’, and boys’ chumash (grades four through eight). Visit
LaxMagazine.com for coverage.
July 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 25 Peter Baum
©KEVIN P. TUCKER (JN); LEE WEISSMAN (PB)
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