The women's lacrosse team used to kid Amy Fromal about showing up to practice with red circles around her eyes, proof of the long hours they spent behind goggles in her biochemistry lab. Meanwhile over on the men's field, Drew McKnight and Peter Ragosa managed to juggle practice, a grueling game schedule and the responsibilities of being co-captains, all while completing economics majors with flying colors.
Now a month after all three graduated with the rest of the Class of 2000, their lacrosse careers are over, but their efforts in the classroom are paying off. In recognition of their performance on and off the field, the trio has received Academic All-American honors to go along with athletic awards they already hold.
But one of them doesn't even know it yet. Fromal is off touring Europe with three former teammates and hasn't heard that she was named to the GTE Spring Academic All-American Third Team. Her mother Suzanne received notice but hasn't been able to contact her daughter by e-mail for a week. However, she thinks Amy will feel honored for the acknowledgment of the dedication she showed in the classroom.
Balancing lacrosse and school, "was really hard on her," Suzanne Fromal said. "Especially in her junior year, every minute of her time was taken up. It took a lot of focus. By the end of it, she was calling home crying."
The stress of completing a rigorous pre-medical schedule while majoring in biochemistry didn't seem to affect Amy Fromal on the field, though. The midfielder completed her best season at Virginia, second all-time in games played and started with 77 each. She was named first-team All-American after leading the team in ground balls and goals.
Her outstanding college career earned Fromal an invitation to play for the USA National Developmental team for a second consecutive year, but Fromal turned down the offer. Instead, she'll be putting her biochemistry B.S. to good use as an incoming student at the Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in Philadelphia, just 10 miles outside her hometown of Folsom, Penn.
But while Fromal will be spending another four years in med school, McKnight and Ragosa are entering the workforce as new employees of prestigious New York City investment banking firms. Recently named USILA Scholar All-Americans, the two will share an apartment with former teammate Richard Reid as McKnight works at Goldman Sachs and Ragosa works at Lehman Brothers.
Ragosa is travelling cross-country now, while McKnight works at a day camp in his native Virginia Beach and plays exhibitions with an upstart outdoor professional lacrosse league. He attributed his success academically and athletically partly to coach Dom Starsia and the Cavalier staff.
"Coach encourages people to do well in the classroom," said McKnight, who graduated with a 3.3 GPA in economics. "There's a good support system for us."
While playing for the Cavs, both McKnight and Ragosa distinguished themselves as two of college lacrosse's finest. McKnight, an attackman, was the ACC's Player of the Year last season and a second-team All-American selection. Ragosa earned third-team All-American as a long-stick middie.
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