<p>With the final computer rankings and poll results in, Deerfield has earned itself the overall 9th position in the nation for lacrosse.</p>
<p>The Coaches'/Computer rankings and the National Coaches poll has them at 9. The LaxPower rankings have them at 8. I know other boarding schools get more lacrosse buzz around here, so I thought I'd share.</p>
<p>Among other "top" boarding schools, St. Paul's was ranked 20 - X - 18 in those rankings. And Lawrenceville was ranked X - X- 25.</p>
<p>My alma mater, Delbarton, was ranked #2 nationally when it played its final game and, to add to the excitement, the #1 team (Huntington, L.I.) had lost two days earlier. But, alas, they couldn't manage to finish their first ever undefeated season, losing that distinction, the state title and a possible #1 national ranking in one fell swoop to Mountain Lakes (for a 5 - 4 - 5 final ranking).</p>
<p>Lawrenceville, which had been ranked in the mid-teens near season's end also struggled at the end.</p>
<p>D'yer Maker -- the St. Paul's you refer to in your post is actually the highly regarded day school outside of Baltimore. They are a perennial lacrosse power and play in the MIAA.</p>
<p>The high ranking of Deerfield, and the use of PG's by the West I schools (as well as Andover, Exeter, Holderness etc.) has caused the usual raging argument over at Laxpower.com. Basically, a lot of commentators feel it is unfair for the Prep's to have PG's at all, and it is also unfair to allow them to be ranked. Further, they argue, the Prep's don't play enough games outsde their own ranks to really determine how good they are.</p>
<p>IMHO, Deerfield is at least #9 (I saw them play twice), but I'm prejudiced in favor of the league. They have something like 16 players going on to play DI or DIII lacrosse in college. As these schools are not about to change their philosophies, rivals or schedules, the debate will just have to roil on.</p>
<p>It should be noted by young athletes reading this board (especially boys) that "PG Schools" may limit your chance to make a varsity team. I've seen kids work their way up through 3rds and JV teams only to find that their slot on the V for senior year belongs to an all-state PG. This can be heartbreaking.</p>
<p>Hockey and lacrosse usually have the most (and the most going on to play in college, not coincidentally), but basketball and football often have large numbers too. The Erickson League (Hotchkiss, Loomis, Kent, Salisbury, Taft, Avon Old Farms, T-P) limits football PG's to four; on the other end of the scale, NMH had 12 lacrosse PG's this past spring. Kent recruits rowers, and Blair looks for wrestlers. Berkshire is a girl's hockey power and recruits heavily.
A kid serious about athletics should do his or her homework.</p>
<p>Having watched Deerfield a number of times, I would take them head to head against any team ranked ahead of them in the rankings. Andover actually gave them their closest game - that was a great game and Andover had one of their better games while Deerfield struggled.</p>
<p>While a number of boarding schools take PGs and therefore seem to have an advantage in sports, it is somewhat counterbalanced with other schools (private, mostly) having athletes (and everyday students, for that matter) repeat a year upon enrolling, thereby negating the age edge. As for public schools, they generally have a much larger enrollment than private schools, resulting in a higher probability of having more athletes to choose from.</p>
<p>Also, being a PG is no guarantee of actually making the team. It has happened that a PG failed to make varsity in his sport and ended up playing jv.</p>
<p>According to their recent information newspaper, it was not 7. I remember seeing one maybe 2. If I still have it at home I'll look again. There were many seniors on their JV team and several underclassman on varsity.</p>
<p>I went through the names of the six Class of '07 students mentioned in the Deerfield season recap and Googled them. It took less than 10 minutes to find out that 4 of them are PGs. One looks to be a homegrown player. And the sixth name is elusive, perhaps because he's not even a player (see below). During my travels across Google, I also stumbled on a 5th PG this season.</p>
<p>Goalie Sam Finnel is a PG who was a 2-time all-stater and 3-year starter for Princeton HS. He's going to be at Bucknell next year.</p>
<p>Billy Bitter, from Manhasset, LI is a PG who will play for UNC next year. Billy Bitter, Manhasset, N.Y., 6-0, 170 pounds, Manhasset High School (<code>06), Deerfield Academy (</code>07). He was a 2006 honorable mention All-America before attending Deerfield. Together with Finnel, he was recognized as Deerfield's outstanding first year performers.</p>
<p>Ben McCabe, Deerfield's star attackman, was a PG from Brunswick, ME and will play for Colgate next year. McCabe and Bitter were the scoring leaders for the Big Green. Which means some guys who worked their butts off for 3-4 years had some opportunities lost when McCabe and Bitter entered as PGs.</p>
<p>Matt Rhone was 1st team ISL lacrosse in 2006 at Nobles & Greenough.</p>
<p>Matt Lovejoy appears to be a homegrown product. I couldn't find anything about George Ogden, who received an award for his inspiration to the team. I'm not even sure he was a player, though.</p>
<p>In addition, I stumbled on one other Deerfield PG player. Kelso Davis, a 2006 All-American from Freeport, Maine PG'ed at Deerfield and will be at Rochester Institute of Technology next year. He's playing for the Maine Elite Lacrosse League this summer.</p>
<p>Lovejoy (not sure where he's from) was an All-American and arguably Deerfield's best player. He will go to UVA next year with Salisbury's Garrett Ince, part of the best college recuiting class in the country this year.</p>