Thursday marked the official start of the Lacrosse World Championships being held in Manchester, England.
Whittier junior Sam Russell, the second-youngest member of the senior English squad and a "rising star" in England lacrosse, scored one of a dozen goals during the opening match between England and Germany.
During his sophomore year at Whittier he started 15 of 15 games, scored 31 goals, made 25 assists, 56 points in total, with 33 groundballs.
Click here to view an interview with Russell on the BBC.
Poet alumnus Jeff Gombar '89 is also participating in the world games. A former goalie, Gombar is one of the assistant coaches with Team Canada. This is Gombar's fifth world championship with the first three appearances as a player and the second two as a coach.
The popularity of the World Lacrosse Championship has grown in the last two decades, going from four team contest to a 30 team competition.
