Overtime

I just got off the phone with Sam Stevenson, who is on day 3 as a freshman at the University of Richmond. Not much has happened yet lacrosse-wise: she is still getting adjusted to life at her new home. You can read her latest blog entry here.

By the way, I failed to mention that due to its popularity, I will again have guest high school bloggers writing off my blog again this fall. I am going to have at least one male and one female athlete and one coach. I have one person confirmed and once I have the entire lineup set I’ll let you know who they are.

Finally, I have been widening my new media exposure. I set up a Twitter account a while back, but I have to admit I don’t use it very often. If there is enough demand out there, I’m happy to start using it more often to post updates from games I am covering or news as I hear it.

You can follow me at RudyT45.

The members of Stamford High School’s field hockey team are going into the new season with their eyes wide open. Eight starters are gone from the team that won a second state championship last fall.

While the loss of so much talent will likely cause some to predict a big tumble for the Black Knights this year, many are going to look past the names on the scorebook and only the one on the front of the team’s uniforms as they try to knock off the school that won back-to-back titles.

To prepare for the task at hand, the team’s new captains, Dani Robustelli, Shayna Colon and Allie DeLuca, have organized practices since early July to get a head start before official practices begin a week from Saturday.

I caught up with Colon (on left) and DeLuca before a team run tonight to get their thoughts on the new season.

I just spoke to Doug Searcy, the vice president of student affairs at Mary Washington University. Preston Hirten’s parents, Lisa and Marc, issued the following statement through the school:

“Preliminary autopsy results showed that Preston died of an enlarged heart.”

The Hirtens gave the same news to the Mary Washington players in a meeting this morning.

However, Steve Murman, the district administrator for the medical examiner’s office for the central district of Virginia, just reiterated what he told me this morning: that an autopsy was performed on Hirten yesterday morning and an official cause of death has not yet been determined. He said the pathologist who performed the autopsy did not yet have preliminary results and was not sure where the news came from.

Searcy, who has only been at the school for eight days and oversees the athletic department, said Hirten collapsed about 30 minutes into Tuesday’s practice, while the team was taking its second water break following a drill. CPR and all other efforts were made at the scene to revive him. Hirten later died at Mary Washington University.

Wreckers coach Dan Woog said the Staples program has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support that has come not just from within Westport and by the team’s alumni, but from opposing players and coaches.

“We’ve always known that the FCIAC is a very classy league and this is further proof,” Woog said.

I’m working on an update to today’s tragic story about the death of Preston Hirten, the Staples High School graduate who collapsed and died Tuesday afternoon during a practice with the Mary Washington University men’s soccer team.

I just got off the phone with Steve Murman, the district administrator for the medical examiner’s office for the central district of Virginia. He said that an autopsy was performed on Hirten yesterday morning and an official cause of death has not yet been determined. He said the pathologist was still working on the report. Murman also promised to get back to me as soon as he has more news.

I also spoke to Roy Gordon, the coach who started the soccer program at Mary Washington in 1977.

“Preston transferred here after his freshman year and he became a leader,” Gordon said. “He was well-loved and respected. On the field and off he was a friend to all. You don’t meet very many young people like him. This is a tremendous loss.”

The Mary Washington team held a meeting this morning. Hirten’s parents, Lisa and Marc, addressed the players.

“They talked about his love of the game and the great fondness he had for the university,” Gordon said.

The only other person I have been able to make contact with thus far is Clint Often, the sports information director at the school.

“Obviously we are in a state of shock,” Often said. “Preston was a great kid, a great student and a great person. He is going to be missed at the school, not just with soccer.”

Gordon said the team will be sending two buses up to attend a memorial service for Hirten, which will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 10 Lyons Plains Road in Westport.

The Hirten family is also asking that, in lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Preston Hirten Memorial Scholarship, being organized by the Westport Soccer Association.  The address is:  PO Box 2561, Westport, CT 06880.

Preston Hirten (Credit: StaplesSoccer.com)

One of my favorite sites on the Internet is “06880″, the superb blog that is all-things Westport, my hometown, and is authored by Dan Woog, an outstanding writer and Staples High School’s boys soccer coach.

I look forward to Woog’s constant postings.

Until the one I read last night.

Preston Hirten, the midfielder who was one of the driving forces behind the Wreckers’ 2006 FCIAC championship and run to the state final, died yesterday afternoon after collapsing during a training session at the University of Mary Washington.

Hirten, a 2007 graduate, was a hard-working player on the field, and while I did not know him well, I do remember him being very insightful the few times I interviewed him that season.

This continues a tragic trend in which that Staples team was blessed on the field and cursed away from it — several players from that team lost fathers either during or after the season.

There was not much news available as of last night, but here is the link to Woog’s blog and the posting he made last night.

I just finished a half hour Facebook chat with Westhill graduate Cliff Louis, who is trying to make the New York Giants as an offensive lineman.

Louis got a good amount of playing time with the third-team offense at right tackle in the second half of the Giants’ dramatic 24-17 win over the Panthers Monday night on a touchdown on the game’s final play.

“I thought I played OK,” Louis wrote to me. “I didn’t play to my own expectations. I want to be great, not just good. I don’t want to be a 10 year vet that no one has heard of. I want to be the Orlando Pace, Jeff Saturday, Walter Jones, Alan Faneca.”

The Giants were off today so Louis hasn’t received any feedback yet from the coaching staff about his play. That will likely come tomorrow, when training camp resumes in Albany.

So how did Louis spend his off day?

“You can tell (everyone) this, I had a mini dunk contest with a DB today and I didn’t realize how explosive they are,” Louis wrote. “Needless-to-say I I was impressed by a standing vertical leap dunk with the left hand on a right-handed player.”

And who was the player?

Corey Webster.

Westhill High School graduate Cliff Louis, an offensive lineman, made his preseason debut with the Giants last night in their 24-17 win over the Panthers.

Cliff Louis

Louis got a good amount of playing time at right tackle during the second half with the third-string unit.

Unfortunately the camera on my iPhone does not have a zoom, so this was the best shot I could get of Cliff last night even though I was nine rows from the field behind the Giants’ bench.

Cliff is at the top.

I heard from Cliff Louis this morning, and the Westhill High School graduate said he will be playing in the Giants’ opening preseason game, at home Monday night against the Panthers. The contest is being broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Louis, a 6-foot-8 offensive lineman, sustained an ankle injury during practice last Saturday, when during a fight defensive lineman Dave Tollefson threw offensive lineman William Beatty, who landed on Louis.

The injury fortunately turned out to be much less serious than it initially appeared.