For the first time in 2018, someone other than Dick Lundblad will be the head coach of the Marcellus girls lacrosse team.
Lundblad and his long-time assistant, Bill Hennigan, both announced their retirements Monday night at the Marcellus Board of Education meeting. The pair were recognized at that meeting and were joined by several current and former Mustangs players for the announcement.
“It has been a pleasure and honor to work with such great student athletes and coaches,” said Lundblad. “Over the years, the support within the community has been tremendous”.
Two decades ago, in 1997, there was no girls lacrosse program at Marcellus. Lundblad helped to change that, first by working hard to earn a grant from US Lacrosse to form the Marcellus Girls Lacrosse Club.
One year later, following school board approval, the Marcellus High School athletic department established girls lacrosse as a spring sport, and Lundblad was the head coach. Hennigan was one of many assistants that would help through the years, joining the likes of Ron Hill, Dave Gardner, Jim Seeley and Ron Moore.
“None of this would have been accomplished without their friendships and great coaching abilities,” said Lundblad.
It didn’t take too long for the Mustangs to establish itself as a power in the local ranks. In Lundblad’s 19-year tenure, Marcellus won 233 games and lost just 111, earning five Onondaga High School League titles and, in 2017, spending much of the regular season atop the state Class D rankings.
But while a Section III championship eluded the Mustangs, the talent on the roster got noticed. Five players were named as US Lacrosse All-Americans, with 16 earning Academic All-American status. They went on to play for numerous top college programs, from Syracuse University to the University of Florida.
Some of those same players, including Lundblad’s daughter, Erin, are now in the coaching ranks themselves. The entire family unit got involved, with Lundblad giving lots of credit to his wife, Nancy, who missed all but a handful of Marcellus games and kept statistics.
Lundblad stepped down less than two months before he is slated for induction into the Upstate chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame on Oct. 22. That adds to a resume that includes four OHSL Liberty division Coach of the Year honors and dozens of lives impacted.
