Broad Run's Madigan Commits To RMU
Madigan is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. His ability to move through traffic allowed him to lead the Dulles District in scoring with 65 goals and 39 assists, while also grabbing a team leading 71 groundballs...
Photo By: Jan Johnson / Gameday | VIEW GALLERY
Rising senior Ryan Madigan will continue his lacrosse career at Division I Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Madigan accumulated numerous accolades during his junior season...
Photo By: Jan Johnson / Gameday | VIEW GALLERY
ASHBURN, VA - Once the Broad Run High School lacrosse season ended, junior Ryan Madigan hit the lacrosse recruiting circuit playing in about 40 lacrosse games in different recruiting tournaments from June 23rd to early August.
Madigan played in two recruiting camps - Top 205 at University of Maryland and Blue Chip Elite at Bryant University in Providence, RI. He also played for the Virginia Lacrosse Club coached by Justin Fitzgerald (Robinson HS) and Jeff Lewandowski (Loudoun Valley HS).
The Virginia Lacrosse Club competed at the Brine Shootout in Baltimore and the Patriot Games outside of Philadelphia.
Three days after the last lacrosse tournament, he joined the Broad Run football team for the coaches meeting and then the beginning of two-a-day practices. No summer vacation for this athlete.
It was only fitting that Ryan got a call to visit Robert Morris University during the first week of football to make his unofficial visit for lacrosse. Lacrosse and football have been part of his life since he was 8 years old. Madigan told Broad Run Football Coach Matt Griffis that one of his top schools wanted him to visit right away. Coach Griffis told the rising senior how proud he was of him and supported him going on the visit.
Ryan needed to make some decisions. "I did not know that much about Robert Morris University before the visit. We spent all day at Robert Morris and it was great." he explains. "Coach Davis has done really great things with the program. He told us about the core values of the team and what they would expect of me. I was really impressed." A tough decision for Madigan just got a lot easier.
The next night, Ryan went through the list of schools that had offered him an opportunity to play lacrosse in college and decided none fit him better than RMU.
"I was going to wait and go on a few more visits but after visiting Robert Morris - I knew it was perfect for me. I told my parents I was going to call Coach Davis the next day and commit."
Ryan's visit led to a verbal commitment last week to accept an athletic scholarship to play Lacrosse at Division I, Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. The lacrosse program was started six years ago by the current Coach Bear Davis, but before that they didn't even have a club program.
Coach Davis has grown the Division I program to a 10-5 record in 2010 including wins against Penn State, Ohio State, and Air Force. Robert Morris is one of the top offenses in the nation averaging nearly 16 goals per game.
As a junior, Madigan played attack and led the Broad Run lacrosse team to a regular season Dulles District Championship. He also plays cornerback and wingback for the Broad Run Football team.
Last year, Ryan spent much of his time in practice covering Adrian Fleming and his lacrosse teammates Joey Quigg and David Weaver.
Ryan commented "I was lucky to play alongside some of the best football players in the state".
On the lacrosse field, his primary jobs are to take the ball to the goal and score or dish off to a teammate who can score. To be good, he must be quick and be able to take a hit.
"Ryan's ability to dodge and move through traffic makes him a scoring threat any time he touches the ball", says Broad Run Head Coach Ryan Richardson. Those qualities are the same that are taught as a defensive back or wingback. The two sports really complement each other.
Last December, Ryan's football season ended in December as part of the 2009 Broad Run State Championship team. A little more than a month later, lacrosse started.
Madigan had an outstanding junior season ending the year #3 in scoring in the Washington Post All-Met and leading the Dulles District in scoring with 65 goals and 39 assists, and also had a team leading 71 groundballs. He was a Washington Post All-Met HM, 1st Team Attack Washington Post All County, 1st Team Attack All-Region, 1st Team All-District, and Washington Post All-Met Player of the Week and ESPN Rise Player of the Week.
Robert Morris plays in the Northeast Conference (NEC) against Sacred Heart, Mount St Mary's, Bryant, Wagner, and Quinnipiac. The winner of the NEC gets a title and bid to the DI NCAA tournament. What will make things very exciting at the Madigan home is Ryan's older brother Eric is a sophomore this fall for the Sacred Heart University lacrosse team.
Ryan will play against Eric for two years. "We are thrilled for Ryan. His hard work in the classroom and on the field has really paid off for him" said Maria Madigan. "I am looking forward to seeing him play another season of Spartan football and lacrosse".
In a time when many athletes feel the pressure to focus on one sport, it is important to see the benefits of athletes playing multiple sports. For Madigan it was playing football and lacrosse; both games of speed, toughness and skill. It gave him an advantage this summer in a group of very competitive, talented athletes all fighting for a spot to take their lacrosse to the next level. For Madigan, that opportunity just became a reality.
