On January 21st, 2012 Generals alumna, Lisa Costello class of 1993, was inducted into the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Greater Baltimore Chapter. The class of inductees also included W&L's Rob Lindsey, class of 1976. While both were already members of the W&L Hall of Fame, this was an incredible honor that we want to celebrate!
Lisa with friends and family of the late Rob Lindsey at the induction ceremony.
Upon graduation Lisa held ten school records in lacrosse and was the first player to earn First-Team All-American honors. She also helped lead the Generals to their first ever NCAA tournament. The induction ceremony was held at the Hillendale Country Club in Baltimore, where Lisa grew up and where she now lives. Each inductee was presented by a close friend or colleague, and Lisa's presenter was her co-coach at Notre Dame Prep, Mary Bartel.
Lisa on the field during her time at W&L.
Lisa is now the co-coach of the varsity lacrosse team at Notre Dame Prep in Baltimore where she taught for many years. She also works part time for another W&L alum, Josh Levison, in his running store. Lisa said she decided to stay involved with the sport after graduation because of the great college experience she had. She loves the sport and loves being able to continue to be involved. One of her favorite parts of coaching now is keeping some of the traditional aspects of the game alive in her players.
When asked what her favorite lacrosse memory from W&L was, Lisa struggled to pin it down to just one memory. She mentioned the first time they beat Roanoke, her junior year winning the ODAC championship, and of course the NCAA tournament her senior year, but another of her favorite memories had nothing to do with her time on the field. Lisa remembered all of the fun she had with her teammates, especially in the vans, no buses for away trips back then. Lisa said that lacrosse wasn't a job for she and her teammates which made things even more fun.
Lisa's responses to what her favorite parts of W&L as a school were show just how little the school has changed over the years. She talked about the sense of community and the honor code, the small, tight-knit campus, the great friends, and the great education. All things that our Generals now talk about as well, although Lisa did have one more thing on her favorites list that our girls don't have yet. She met her husband here at W&L as well.
Lisa and I ended our conversation with her advice for our current Generals to which she said, "Enjoy the school. You have a great tradition to follow, and just have fun with it!" In her acceptance speech at the induction ceremony she also gave a little advice to those girls who are our future Generals, "When it came time to apply for college, lacrosse was truly an afterthought. In those days, there were few scholarships, and girls did not sign letters of intent at age 10. I chose W&L because I loved the school."
Of course before I let Lisa go I had to ask her one more burning questions that all of our blog subjects answer... if you could have a super power what would it be? "To run a marathon without all of the pain and training!"
Thank you and congratulations again to Lisa! Next week we introduce another of our first years.
