Sherry Eager to Meet West Coast Challenge

By: Keith Mills

It has been eight years since Theresa Sherry left Bryn Mawr as one of the most recruited women's lacrosse players in the country and four years since she left Princeton as one of the most decorated players of all time.

Sherry is the new women's lacrosse coach at the University of California, but she was back in her hometown last weekend for the eighth Paul Sherry Shootout, a three-game basketball event named after her dad that has raised over $50,000 for assorted area causes since 2001.

This year's event was held at Bryn Mawr, where Sherry played lacrosse for coach Wendy Kridel, current coach of the women's Under-19 U.S. national team. Theresa also played for the U.S. Under-19 team in 1999 before leaving for Princeton two years later.

She played soccer and lacrosse at Princeton, helping the Tigers to three Ivy League soccer championships, but it was her work on the lacrosse field that earned her national acclaim. A first team All-American three years in a row and a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, Sherry helped the Tigers win back-to-back NCAA championships in 2002-03 and reach the Final Four in '01 and '04. Now she's at University of California Berkley, where she inherits a program that's just 10 years old.

"I love it," said Sherry, who graduated from Princeton with a degree in anthropology and was an assistant to Jill Malko before getting the head coaching job. "I love the school. It's a lot like Princeton, like an Ivy League school. The school's one of the best in the world, and it's really neat to be a part of it."

But it's not Princeton or the Ivy League in regards to women's lacrosse. Theresa gets just three scholarships and girls' high school lacrosse is in its infancy in California.

The Bears finished 7-10 last year, 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

"The quality of play is getting a lot better out here," Sherry said. "It's very good in the Denver area. That's the hotbed of lacrosse out west."

Just five of Sherry’s players are from California while 18 are from the East Coast, and four from the Baltimore area. Stephanie Smith played at C. Milton Wright in Bel Air, Hanly Heubeck at Roland Park, Sam Price at Severna Park and Tighe Hutchins at Bryn Mawr.

But things are changing. Of six signees for the 2009 season, only one is from the East Coast -- Vail Horn from Bronxville, N.Y. Tara Arolla and Melissa Sheehan are from California, Allie Welsh and Lauren Johnson from Englewood, Colo., and Tori Harrison from Texas.

"More and more, we see girls from out here who can really play," Sherry said. "They're getting much better coaching and their skill level is pretty high."

"I'm very excited for her and very proud of her," said Jan Sherry, Theresa's mom. "She has a plan. She knows exactly what she wants to do and how she wants to do it."

Theresa is the oldest of four children. Jack is a senior lacrosse player at Boys' Latin. Laurie and Val also played three sports at Bryn Mawr and are either studying or working overseas. Now Theresa is 3,000 miles away in the San Francisco Bay area, where both her parents grew up.

"I have a lot of family out there, so it's not like I'm all by myself," Theresa Sherry said. "I'm very excited. We have a lot of work to do but the girls have been great and so has the support from the school."

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The Sherry Shootout, in honor of Theresa Sherry’s father Paul, raised more than $15,000 for Catherine's Hearth, a local outreach center for young women and children. Roland Park, Holton-Arms and Boys' Latin won the three games played last Saturday. Roland Park beat St. Timothy's, 53-24. Holton-Arms beat the host Mawrtians and Boys' Latin beat Gilman, 64-45.