WORTON — A handful of Kent County High School senior lacrosse players — their own band of brothers — punctuated a season of redemption with all-star recognition in voting by the North Bayside Conference head coaches.
Attackman Will Speakman (17 goals, 21 assists), midfielders Martin Parrish (40 goals, 11 assists) and Landon Wallace (24 goals, 13 assists), and close defensemen Ryan Myers and Ben Loller were placed on the All-North second team, along with junior midfielder Ethan Clark (28 goals, 16 assists).
They all played critical roles in the Trojans’ turnaround, going from 0-8 in 2021 to four-win seasons in 2022 and ’23, and ultimately 7-7 this spring in a trajectory of success that brought them to the Class 1A East Region II championship game.
Coincidentally, or not, these KCHS all-stars were teammates on the undefeated 2019 Kent County Honkers squad that won the Eastern Shore Youth Lacrosse Association 14U division.
Two other members of that championship age-group team, Jamsen Krukiel (attack) and Frank Kelly (defense), also earned All-North second-team recognition as seniors this year playing for Queen Anne’s County High School.
“You know, when I looked at the list [of all-stars] I just didn’t look at the KCHS boys. There is a total of 8 young men that came up through the Honkers program. I think that is a testament to what the program brings to our community to help develop lacrosse players,” Kent County High School coach Tom Speakman told The Evening Enterprise in a text message July 31.
He applauded coaches Amy Krukiel, Rick Lankford, Dave Kelly, Kolyn Kirby, Chas Willis and Ty Anderson, among others, who over the years of youth and high school lacrosse have dedicated countless hours to the players and the sport of lacrosse.
“I am honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of all of this and stand shoulder to shoulder with so many great coaches and athletes. They have all taught me so much!” Speakman said in the text message.
Tom Speakman and the Class of 2024 leave the KCHS program in a much better place than they found it.
He took over as head coach in the middle of the winless 2021 campaign when there was a turnover in leadership, and rescued a program that might otherwise have folded.
Kent County’s bid to finish above .500 for the first time since the 15-2 campaign of 2004 fell short this spring with the 17-7 loss to Southern of Anne Arundel County in the region final.
With the graduation of his son Will, Tom Speakman ’92 is stepping down as the head soccer and lacrosse coach at his alma mater.
But not before heaping praise on the Trojan stickmen.
In his text message, coach Speakman said: “Our boys worked so hard these past four years to keep a program going. They stayed committed to their school, not looking for greener pastures. They learned a lot of life lessons. They didn’t have the luxury like most teams. They had to recruit players every year to keep the program alive. They were up against bigger schools with more talent, and that didn’t stop them. They learned how to lose and not give up. I am so proud of all of them!”
Team awards were presented to Parrish (MVP for the second time), Will Speakman (outstanding sportsman) and Loller (Coach’s Choice).
Speakman (Bridgewater, Virginia) and Wallace (Neumann, Pennsylvania) have committed to play lacrosse in college, while Parrish, who was the overall outstanding male athlete in the KCHS Class of 2024, has committed to play soccer at Salisbury University.
Loller, the class valedictorian, will attend Brown University in the fall and Myers, the outstanding sportsman in the senior class, is headed to the University of Maryland, College Park.
