The Bishop Ireton Lady Cardinal softball team is having an excellent season. The "Cardinal and Gold," coached by Tom Luckett (first season), currently has the second spot in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference standings.

O'Connell, coached by Tommy Orndorff, is currently undefeated in league play and consequently leads the conference.

The Cardinals have an 8-2 league record and are breathing down the Knights’ necks as the regular season approaches its conclusion.

The Cardinals, 13-2 overall, dropped a 4-3 decision to O'Connell several weeks ago. The two teams met again April 30, with O'Connell winning 3-0.

Ireton spent the Easter break in North Carolina, where they captured the prestigious "Beach Diamond Invitational Holiday Tournament" Championship. The Lady Cardinals defeated previously undefeated Columbus (N.C.) 8-1 in the quarterfinals.

The "Redbirds" defeated South Brunswick (N.C.) 5-0 in the semi-finals. Ireton defeated West Brunswick (N.C.), one of the Tar Heel State's "Top 10" teams, 1-0 in the championship contest.

Sophomore second baseman Gina Cogliano led off the fourth inning with a hard single to right center. To West Brunswick's chagrin, the ball skipped past their right fielder and rolled to the fence. Cogliano ending up at third base.

Senior standout Jess Luckett then smacked a line drive single to left, which drove in the game’s lone run.

Luckett threw 19 of the 21 innings in North Carolina. Senior first baseman Kris Wardell threw the other two. Luckett picked up all three wins, including a no-hitter versus South Brunswick. The senior now has three no-hitters on the season and 12 for her career.

Leading the "Cardinal and Gold" offensively this season are: Luckett (.628), junior catcher Beth Dalmut (.488), senior center fielder Amanda Boddie (.407), freshman "designated hitter" Elise Lopez (.406), junior shortstop Ellen Horen (.405) and Cogliano (.391).

Ireton has now outscored its opponents 114-7 this season (four of the seven runs surrendered were to arch-rival O'Connell).

"The excitement of these first 14 games makes us real excited about the remainder of the season," said Coach Luckett.

Panthers Having Another Great Golf Season

The Paul VI Panthers are having another excellent golf season. The Panthers, coached by Milt Papke, currently weigh-in with an overall record of 8-2.

"I knew we would be a strong team. We had a good number of lettermen returning for the season," said Papke.

The "Black and Gold" won their first eight matches of the season defeating: St. Mary's Rykken (8-1), Episcopal (7-2), St. Johns (81/2-1/2), St. Alban’s (6 1/2-2 1/2), McNamara (9-0), O'Connell (6 1/2-2 1/2), Ireton (7-2) and St. Stephens/St. Agnes (5-4).

PVI then suffered two narrow losses to Georgetown Prep and Gonzaga. Dual matches left to be played include Good Counsel April 29, DeMatha April 30 and Bullis May 7.

The Panthers are led by seniors Ryan Price, Mike Annessa, Sebastian Mascaro, T.J. Schlusemeyer; junior Carl Wang and freshman Justin Wingo.

"All of these players are capable of "breaking 80," said Papke.

In the Virginia Catholic State Championships April 28 at Highlands Golfers Club in Chesterfield the Panthers finished a disappointing third. Ireton, coached by Ken Baskette, pulled off a minor shocker and won the tournament. O'Connell, coached by Darrell Snyder, finished fifth.

Ireton freshman Mike Brideau shot a 75 and won the individual title.

The Panthers were paced by Price (78), Annessa (81), Mascaro (84), Wang (85), Wingo (85) and Schlusemeyer (88). Price was a Washington Post "All-Met" in both 2001 and 2002.

"Ryan is a great competitor," said Papke. "He works hard. He tied for first last year in the Virginia State Junior Golf Association Championship."

One of the most prestigious tournaments of the season will be the WCAC Championships May 6 at International Country Club in Fairfax.

"Based on our disappointing third place finish at Chesterfield, we're going to try to redeem ourselves next week. We've got a good chance to win the WCAC Championship," said Papke.

Ireton Grad Concluding Standout Lacrosse Career

Joey Kestermann (Ireton '99) is concluding a standout lacrosse career at U.M.B.C. (University of Maryland - Baltimore County).

Kestermann and the Retrievers visited Byrd Stadium and dropped a 15-8 decision to the University of Maryland Terrapins on April 25.

Kestermann's score in the first quarter put the Retrievers ahead 3-1, but Maryland caught fire and outscored U.M.B.C. 14-5 over the games final 50 minutes.

Kestermann, who also played football and basketball at Ireton, currently has eight goals and six assists for U.M.B.C.

The Dumfries native ranks in the top three at Ireton in virtually every offensive category. The U.M.B.C. sociology major has over 50 points in his college career (goals/assists).

During the summers of 2001 and 2002, Kestermann played for the German National Team. His father is a German citizen.

"Ireton (lacrosse) prepared me for the college lacrosse experience. I take the most pride in being a leader on this U.M.B.C. team," said Kestermann, who is hoping to get to the NCAA post season tournament for the first time in his college career.

Pat Howell (O'Connell '02) is currently a red-shirt freshman on the University of Maryland lacrosse team.

Maryland red shirted approximately half of its freshman class this season, thus Howell was on the sidelines in street clothes when the Terps defeated UMBC.

Howell finished his O'Connell career very high in virtually every offensive category and has not yet declared his official academic major.

The freshman, a Vienna native, was also a standout football player during three varsity seasons with the Knights.

"The speed of the college game is the one thing that is so much different from the high school game," said Howell.