About
Etownlax.com is the official website of the Elizabethtown Area High School boys’ lacrosse program. Its primary purpose is to communicate with students and parents who are interested in or involved with the program.
The E-town Bears have been playing lacrosse since 1991, when they gathered two or three times each week to learn the sport from Rob Umble. A guidance counselor who went on to coach at Lancaster Country Day, Coach Umble started and led the program for over a decade. The first high school lacrosse game in Lancaster County was played between the Bears, then a club team, and Hempfield, in 1992. Incidentally, Hempfield was led onto the field by EAHS alumnus Doug Bailey, who learned the sport as an undergrad at Penn State.
After Coach Umble’s leadership ended, the next few years had their ups and downs, with frequent coaching changes and varying levels of support from the community and athletic department. In 2002, Coach Bill Pappalardo, who later coached the GEARS middle school program for three years, led the high school program to its best season to date. A 12-6 record, including wins over Manheim Township and Penn Manor, foretold a proud future for one of the original four Central Pennsylvania high school lacrosse programs (along with Cumberland Valley, Harrisburg Academy, and Hempfield). Several players from that 2002 team went on to successful college playing careers.
Coach Ron Quinto and various parents worked to keep the program afloat through a few tougher years, until the school district adopted boys lacrosse as a varsity sport in 2007. Students in the classes of 2008 and 2009 who played four years had four different head coaches leading the program.
In 2010, the varsity team enjoyed its second winning season, setting a new watermark for wins (15-9 record), winning the third-place game in the PIAA District 3 Playoffs (Etown 7, Conrad Weiser 3), and losing in overtime in the round-of-16 of the PIAA State Tournament (Franklin Regional 7, Etown 6).
The future of lacrosse looks very bright in Elizabethtown, coming off the Bears’ most successful season to date. Rheems Athletic Association started elementary lacrosse last year, with 2nd-through-6th graders joining the 7th and 8th graders in the GEARS middle school program as potential future Bears high school laxers. GEARS inaugurates a fiddlesticks lacrosse program for kindergarten-through-3rd graders in Fall 2010, and Rheems will sponsor girls lacrosse teams at Lanco Fieldhouse this winter.
The pride is back in Bears lacrosse, with a focus on hard work, commitment, and team attitude.