The Durham Public Schools governing board recognized the Riverside Pirate lacrosse team at its weekly meeting on May 23, 2002. The Pirates were recognized for their second straight state championship and for the fact that all of the graduating seniors on the team are going to college. School board chairperson Kathryn Meyers's son Ben was an attackman on the Riverside squad, graduating in 1996. In the left photo above, Riverside principal Patrick Rhodes introduces the team to the board members. In the right photo, Coach Jim Kirkley tells the board something about the season and about the academic achievements of the seniors on the team.

Posted May 23, 2002, 2:00 p.m.

Riverside Coach Jim Kirkley's Bull City Lacrosse Camp for 2002 will run from July 22-26, 9a.m.-noon at Riverside. The cost is $95. This should not conflict with T.A.L.L.'s summer league, which runs through July 25, but is at night. It also should not conflict with D.A.'s summer league, both sessions of which are in June.
For more information, contact Coach Kirkley at jkirkley@rhslacrosse.com.

Various Web sites and local e-mailers list the following NC prep players as "early commitments" for the 2002-03 season:

Madison Thompson (M), Riverside, to Lees-McRae Richard Ladd (G), Riverside, to Lehigh Kevin Raspet (M), Riverside, to Navy Noel Watkins (G), Providence Day, to Johns Hopkins Will McNaughton (A), Cardinal Gibbons, to Hampden-Sydney

Shawn Handy (A), Chapel Hill, to Wooster John Martin (M), S.E. Raleigh, to Wingate Andrew Moon (M), Durham Academy, to Rutgers Chris Feifs (M), Riverside, to Navy

If anyone knows of any missing from this list (or if this list has errors), please email rivlax@mindspring.com.

Posted April 23, 2002, 8:30 a.m.

The University of Georgia women's club lacrosse team defeated arch-rival Auburn University 12-9 at Emory University on Sunday, April 21, 2002, to win their third Southern Women's Lacrosse League championship crown.

Riverside alum Mary Katharine Ham was named to the All-SWLL second team after the game. At a banquet on Saturday evening she had been named the Lady Bulldogs' most valuable defender.

The UGa women now go to St. Louis on May 10 to play in the USILA women's national tournament. They are currently ranked third in the country, behind only Navy and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In the past two weeks they have jumped from 16th, to 11th, to 5th and now to 3rd in the U.S. Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates poll.

Posted April 15, 2002, 3:55 p.m.

Riverside alum Mary Katharine Ham, Owen's sister, scored a goal and added an assist on Saturday, April 13, as her team defeated Georgia Tech in Atlanta to finish the regular season 7-0. The Lady Bulldogs are now the top seed in the April 20-21 Southern Women's Lacrosse League Tournament at Emory University in Atlanta.

If the Lady Bulldogs win the tournament this coming weekend they will represent their conference in the women's club team national championship tournament in St. Louis on May 8-11.

Posted Mar. 12, 2002, 1:45 p.m.

Chris Feifs

The games against Chapel Hill, originally scheduled for tonight, have been postponed until Friday, March 15. The JV game will be at 5 p.m. on Friday and the varsity game at 7 p.m. That sets up a hectic seven days in which the Pirates will have to play five games. After playing Wilton tomorrow, Riverside will play Chapel Hill on Friday, Charlotte Country Day on Saturday, Kinkaid (Tex.) on Monday and Orange on Tuesday. The good news is that Chris Feifs has been cleared to play, so the Pirates will be at full strength beginning with the Wilton game.

Posted Mar. 3, 2002, 2 p.m.

The Riverside Pirates play three games this week after weekend scrimmages at Duke that left players and coaches alike a bit disappointed. The team performed well below the level it displayed in November at the Battle of the Beach in Virginia Beach, VA., and individually below the level most Pirates displayed during the T.A.L.L. fall ball season.

This week's games, at Grimsley on Tuesday, at Ravenscroft on Wednesday, and at home against Charlotte Providence on Friday, will be a test of whether the off-season rust has been eliminated. Two-thirds of next week's tough schedule will be faced with All-State midfielder Chris Feifs watching from the sidelines. Doctors treating his shoulder injury say he can't play until the Charlotte Providence game.

Coach Kirkley told the team after Saturday's scrimmages that they are really a young team, despite all the pre-season hype centering around Feifs and All-State midfielder Kevin Raspet. The attack and the defense both returned one starter this year, so, despite the strength at midfield, its a rebuilding year in some ways.

Posted Feb. 20, 2002, 6:25 p.m.

There will be a mandatory parents' meeting Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. in the Riverside cafeteria. The meeting is required by Durham Public Schools, so every parent should make an effor to attend.

In addition, Coach Kirkley will discuss the upcoming Spring Break trip to Chattanooga, as well as some team needs for the coming season.

For more information on the Spring Break trip, its costs and the itinerary, click here.

Posted Feb. 11, 2002, 6:15 p.m.

The 2002 lacrosse season officially began on Monday as the Riverside lacrosse team began line and running drills to get rid of the stick-skill rust and extra poundage that the off-season often brings.

Coach Jim Kirkley announced that seniors Kevin Raspet and Chris Feifs (in photo at left) had been named co-captains for the season. Rich Ladd (also in photo at left), who played goalie for Riverside last year, has expended his high school eligibility and will not play this year.

Kirkley went over team rules and expectations in the team's first meeting of the year. He also told veterans and rookies alike that competition for positions and playing time would be strong this year with some key open positions and lot of returning talent. More than 50 players have come out for lacrosse this year, said Kirkley, and for the first time since the program began in 1993 some players will have to be cut.

The Pirates will be looking for another state championship in 2002, having won in 1998, 1999 and 2001. The team will "have a target on its back" in every game it plays this year, Kirkley told the team. Coach Glenn Estacio, who handles the Riverside offense, also stressed the importance of being ready to play in every game if the Pirates hope to win another championship.

Coach Jim Kirkley, standing in center, goes over team rules and player expectations for the coming season on Tuesday.