New Old Mill athletic director Heather Arnold will have her hands full replacing the many holes caused by the recent additions at Crofton High.
There will be the smaller replacements, such as assistant spots on the football and lacrosse staff. There’s larger ones too, as Arnold will begin interviewing for four openings next week. Golf and boys soccer are both byproducts of coaches shifting to the new high school, while cross country opened up after Old Mill girls lacrosse coach Chelsea Hauswirth decided to cut her coaching responsibilities to spring-only.
Lastly, there’s field hockey. That one was the new athletic director’s doing.
After coaching Old Mill field hockey for seven seasons, Arnold is stepping down to focus on her new, year-round job.
“That was probably one of the biggest decisions,” Arnold said. “Field hockey’s been a part of my life since I can remember.”
Arnold made sure her last ride with Patriots field hockey was one to remember — leading the team to an appearance in the 4A state semifinals. It’s now something, too, for Arnold’s successor to build on.
When Arnold came to Old Mill, she’d coached the girls lacrosse team as well, but ceded the reins after three years.
Saying goodbye to field hockey will be a little harder.
“I took my first coaching position right out of college,” Arnold said. “It’s something that’s been a part of my life for a long time.”
Crofton athletic director Jeff Martin is very aware that he’s created those openings for his old colleague.
“I feel kind of bad that we’ve brought on so many new coaches from there, but they were obviously the most qualified,” said Martin, who had formerly served as Old Mill’s athletic director.
The stream of coaching hires for brand-new Cardinals program, currently logged at 10, are somewhat reminiscent of the great athletic director shakeup of 2019, in which a dozen Anne Arundel athletic administrators either changed schools or retired altogether.
In the past month, Martin has announced the addition of coaches ranging in sports from football and boys basketball to lacrosse and golf, through social media. He plans to announce more early next week, with an emphasis on the remaining fall coaches: cheerleading, cross country and unified tennis.
Martin has a little more time to take on indoor and outdoor track, unified bowling and bocce and a bread-and-butter staple of Anne Arundel — girls lacrosse.
It hasn’t been easy filling a blank slate with qualified individuals during a pandemic. Harder still is winning over coaches to a school with very limited teaching positions, due to the fact that only two grade levels will exist at Crofton next fall.
“Our goal is to have as many head coaches in the building as possible,” Martin said, “but with a limited number of students, we’ve definitely had to look at some different things when hiring.”
As reported by The Capital in the past few weeks, Crofton welcomed home two natives, Todd Sommerville and Jeff Starr, to head the first football and boys basketball programs. Sommerville served as an assistant on the Old Mill football staff for six years while Starr’s accomplishments at Arundel spill over in his nine years there.
To head boys lacrosse, Crofton enlisted Arundel graduate Collin Snyder, who served as an assistant at Old Mill for the past five seasons. He’ll also head the golf team, as he did for the Patriots for two years.
In its new hires, Crofton will also be bringing in coaches with recent history of turnaround success.
The Capital Gazette Girls Basketball Coach of the Year, Jonathan Mason proved that with Glen Burnie. After going winless in 2018-19, Mason spearheaded a 12-win season this winter, turning out a First-Team member and budding star in freshman guard Amourie Porter.
Mason’s past experience includes time as an assistant for Meade’s boys basketball team before becoming head coach of the school’s girls program, as well as being on the college coaching staffs at Towson and Howard University.
Crofton boys soccer will be led by Pat Carey, another ex-Pat who turned out an 11-4-1 record in his first year with Old Mill last fall.
Carey’s soccer counterpart will be Travis Bonfigli, a newcomer to the high school coaching realm who will take on the girls soccer team. Bonfigli is, however, far from new in the Crofton community, coaching at various prominent clubs since 1999.
Waiting in the wings no more is Amy Skrickus. A Broadneck graduate who served as an assistant under longtime Bruins coach Jen Plack for 11 years, Skrickus is taking over the Crofton field hockey program. Upon Plack’s retirement in 2018, Skrickus moved on to assist Arundel coach Carrie Vosburg last season, helping the Wildcats (11-3-2) finish as county champions and region finalists.
To check off wrestling, Crofton pulled in Jason West. West coached Severn wrestling for 10 years — eight as an assistant, where he helped the Admirals to a pair of MIAA B Conference tournament crowns in 2014 and 2016, and two as the head coach, where he led the team to the MIAA B dual title this winter.
West has known personal success as wrestler, competing for two states-winning Old Mill squads. The 2009 team during West’s senior year claimed both tournament and dual titles.
The school’s new baseball coach won’t be traveling too far. Tom Keating, a Salisbury graduate, taught physical education for the last 17 years at Crofton Middle.
Keating’s coaching career has moved through North Caroline High before transitioning to legendary Arundel coach Bernie Walter’s staff, as well as head coach for the USA Baseball 18U National Team. A Major League Baseball scout, Keating has delivered more than 200 players to college as president of the Maryland Monarchs Baseball Club.
Up in the north
Around the county, various schools have had openings crop up and close.
North County has added a new cross-county coach, Justin Szech. Szech had served as Indian Creek School’s Dean of Students for a decade, and coached the Eagles’ cross country team in the past. But the Linthicum Heights resident has moved on, taking over as North County High’s social studies teacher as well.
The Knights are also in search of a new varsity girls basketball coach to replace Dan Mangum, who coached North County for five seasons.
Across the Pasadena peninsula, Northeast has made an addition, too.
Mindy Shore will assume the role as the Eagles’ cheerleading coach, replacing Dana Jefferson, who had helmed the team through two periods over seven years. Shore coached the junior varsity team last fall and winter.
“We are extremely excited about having Mindy continue and grow the success of our cheer program at Northeast High School,” athletic director Ken Miller said. “We have a very proud program that holds high standards and expectations for those that are chosen to be a part.”
