The Gunston School is pleased to announce that five members of the class of 2022 have signed their letters of intent to play sports at the college level. At a recent signing ceremony this past Wednesday, April 27, students and their families along with coaches and faculty gathered in the Alice R. Ryan Family Library to celebrate their accomplishments. 

Colin Lang of Trappe, Md., will be rowing for the Naval Academy. “Colin is not somebody who lets roadblocks and obstacles get in the way of things he wants to achieve,” said Coach Law. “If he sets his mind on something, it doesn’t matter what it takes, he’s going to achieve it. The way that he conducts himself, not only in the classroom, but also in the boat as a captain, really exemplifies all of the values and morals of the United States Naval Academy.”

“Attending the Naval Academy has been a goal of mine since middle school,” said Lang. “I've known for a while that I wanted to serve my country and the Naval Academy was clearly the best route for me to do that.” Lang is still deciding on a major but is leaning toward mechanical engineering given his strong interest in physics and engineering. He was also recruited for the men’s heavyweight rowing team. “I'm very excited to continue my rowing career at a high caliber Division 1 team, and I'm very thankful for my [Gunston] teammates and coaches for helping me achieve this.”

Nora FauntLeRoy of Annapolis, Md. will be playing lacrosse for St. Mary’s College. Gunston’s Assistant Girls Lacrosse Coach Ronnie Vesnaver said, “Her fervor and love for the game is present on the field at all times. She’s incredibly intimidating as a player, she’s fast, and she’s present all the time. All game long. That fervor that you see on the field is a true testament to how much she loves the game and how much she loves being on a team.” Playing since the age of five, FauntLeRoy started playing club lacrosse in the fourth grade with Maryland United Lacrosse Club 2022 East and played with them for eight years. “There is just such a positive community surrounding the [Gunston] team that I’m going to miss so much, but I know that I’m going to find another one at St. Mary’s.” FauntLeRoy plans to major in either math or philosophy with a minor in art. During her career at Gunston, she also spent time playing basketball and soccer as well as running for cross country.

Ben Cunningham of Dover, Del. will be attending Alfred University for lacrosse. “When Ben got here, I remember turning to the other coach and saying this is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever seen,” said Gunston’s Head Lacrosse Coach Zach Hoisington “Anything I told Ben to do on the field, I didn’t even have to show him, he would just do it right away. Ben has emerged as one of our top defensemen on the team but he’s also one of our top scorers. Just a huge asset to our program.” Cunningham, who also played soccer, basketball, and crew while at Gunston, will be studying renewable energy engineering at Alfred. “I will miss my teammates the most and all of the fun practices," he said.

Samantha LeCrone of Preston, Md. will be attending Monmouth University in New Jersey, where she’ll be majoring in marine biology and policy. LeCrone was recruited to be a part of Monmouth’s brand new division 1 crew program. Coach Law reflected, “Sam is a prime example of someone who comes in, falls in love with a sport, dedicates herself one hundred percent to it, and just seeing her improve over the last two years and how she motivates her teammates sets such a great example in both work ethic and performance.” 

In addition to crew, LeCrone also is a competitive surfer, having recently competed in the O’Neill East Coast Grom Tour surf competition this past September in Ocean City, Md., where she placed in the top three of two heats before advancing to the final heat where she placed fifth against some of the most talented surfers on the East Coast.(LeCrone only began surfing competitively in the summer of 2020.) LeCrone began rowing in her sophomore year. “One of the biggest challenges of rowing is learning to work with a team. Everything we do is uniquely challenging and increases my [desire] to get better. When out on the water, everyone has to work together or else the whole boat falls apart. This forces you to develop a strong relationship with your team.”

Jude Smith of Stevensville, Md. will be attending High Point University for lacrosse. “Jude is one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever seen here,” continued Coach Hoisington. “Having somebody on the field that the rest of the players can see and aspire to be like, I can’t even tell you how much that helps. You hear coaches say ‘you can’t teach competitiveness.’ Well, you can teach it when you’ve got Jude Smith on your team to set the example.” 

In addition to lacrosse, (in which he earned First-Team Eastern Shore Athletic Conference honors for two years in a row), Smith also played basketball and soccer at Gunston, earning honorable mention all-conference in basketball during both his freshman and sophomore seasons, and for soccer, was named team MVP as a freshman and made the all-conference first-team the following season.