Champion Adelphi men's lacrosse team honored at White House
Adelphi Division II national championship men's lacrosse team was hosted by the White House on Monday, July 22, 2024, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's second annual NCAA Sports Day. Credit: Adelphi Athletics
A moment 23 years in the making became even more special on Monday.
Adelphi claimed its first NCAA Division II national title in men’s lacrosse since 2001, and eighth overall, with a 12-10 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in the championship game on May 26.
Fifty-seven days later, the Panthers were honored at the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris hosted 46 national championship-winning teams across all divisions and sports from the 2023-24 season for NCAA Sports Day, addressing the crowd in a five-minute-plus speech on the South Lawn. All but three Adelphi players were in attendance.
“I am honored to welcome all of you to the White House to celebrate the achievements of these great athletes,” Harris said. “Every one of them is a national champion. A national champion. In America, tens of millions of people play a sport as a child, and the best of the best grow up to become national champions.”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to come here, get invited to the White House,” said attackman and midfielder Jack Hipchen, who represented Adelphi on stage during a ceremony that also included comments from the NCAA’s Lynda Tealer and Florida State women’s soccer star Jordynn Dudley.
“It was a super-cool honor to be able to get chosen to go up on stage and just to be here in general with the whole team.”
The Panthers received a tour of the White House, seeing the library and various other rooms. They did not personally meet Harris, who delivered her first public remarks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election on Sunday. Biden, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 last Wednesday, was not present, though Harris said he was feeling “much better” and “wanted to be here today.”
Kyle Lewis, a midfielder from Franklin Square who went to Carey High School, said it was a great experience that not many get to enjoy.
“Being with the guys, seeing them again and coming here, it’s a great experience,” Lewis said. “Especially all the other teams we saw. Everyone’s a champion, and got to interact with them, talk to them.”
The day was especially memorable for Adelphi coach Gordon Purdie, 58, who arrived in America from Australia at 19.
“As an Australian, I have a huge amount of respect for the presidency here and the way that America runs as a democracy,” Purdie said. “Now to feel like I’m a part of that, just on this one day, I got to hang out with the Secret Service and talk to them about their experiences of how they are there and my experiences, which is a kid growing up on the other side of the world, only seeing it in movies.
“And now to be literally right there inside the White House and right outside the West Wing, it’s actually hard to believe we’re all here.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.