Sports Honors
recent awards and accolades for alumni, coaches, and students
Two WFS alums have recently moved to the major ranks in their sports. Ed Reynolds ’10 was picked in the fifth round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, and has signed a four-year deal with the team. Spencer Medick ’09 was the first overall pick in the Frontier League baseball draft; he is now part of the Arizona Diamondbacks major league organization. Woodberry is proud to have four Prep League coaches of the year: Ben Hale for cross country, Curtis Phillips for indoor and outdoor track and field, David Budlong for wrestling, and Marc Hogan for golf. Track season was overwhelmed with individual and team awards. Outdoor track won first place in both the Prep League and VISAA State meets for the second year in a row — the first back-to-back wins in forty-nine years. This is also the first time Woodberry has held all four titles in one year — Prep and State for both indoor and outdoor track. For a summary of track awards, visit their blog at www.woodberryforesttrackandfield.blogspot.com.
Not Your Typical Summer Job
cleaning and studying the rapidan river
This summer, four recent Woodberry graduates will return to the Forest to work for Stream Sweepers, a non-profit based in nearby Orange. Kiefer McDowell, Perry Hammond, Kav Gillespie, and Davis Teague — all members of the Class of 2014 — will help to clear trash and debris along twenty miles of the Rapidan River, including much of Woodberry's southern property line. They will also collect data about the river's ecological health to provide a quick snapshot that will help guide future conservation efforts. Now in its second year, Stream Sweepers is a local organization that does not receive any government funding. Instead, the group taps into grassroots fundraising methods and community support. Its goal is to increase community involvement and shared responsibility for the environment.
Lazy-hazy-crazy days of Summer Reading! Everyone at Woodberry (including teachers!) will be reading Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff during the break. Want more recommendations? Go to the library page on the Woodberry website, where you will find the complete summer reading list! www.woodberry.org/academics/library
faculty feature
Frank Tallman ’95 Woodberry alum Frank Tallman returned to teach history at Woodberry in 2004. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Frank finished a graduate degree at Dartmouth College while working at the Forest. He and his wife, Tricia, and their three children, Parker, 8, Mason, 6, and Greta, 3, live on campus and fully participate in the life of the school. The little Tallmans like to hang out on the sidelines when he’s coaching Bengal lacrosse — Woodberry’s no-cut team for novice players — and varsity soccer, eat in the dining room, and hang out with their 400 “big brothers.” How does being a Woodberry alum help you be a better Woodberry master? Though I have sprouted a few gray hairs recently, I am often seen by the boys as "one of them" because I have gone through the privileges and challenges that define a Woodberry boy. Where have you traveled that relates to your teaching? For my sabbatical, I went to Normandy to tour all the D-Day sites and tour the WWI battlefields near Verdun. I toured an area where my great-great-uncle fought, died, and is buried. This summer I will take a course at Oxford University on the ancient Greeks and Romans. What trips do you and your students take? Every year, I take my students to James Madison's Montpelier, to various Civil War battlefields in the area, and to Harpers Ferry, WV, and Sharpsburg, MD, to view sites associated with John Brown's Raid and Lee's Maryland Campaign of 1862. What is fun about coaching Bengal lacrosse? It is amazing to teach a sport to a boy who has no experience and watch him improve as the season continues. The energy, attitude, and physical aspects of a team of third and fourth formers is awesome. I love to see my former Bengal lacrosse players on varsity a few years later.
Tiger Tales • june 2014 • 3