Former Whitman boys lacrosse standout Corno gives back

Andy Corno starts scholarship fund for Vikings

After graduating from Georgetown in 2005, Corno literally dedicated himself completely to the sport. Aside from playing each summer with the New Jersey Pride (MLL), he co-founded Leaders Lacrosse with Georgetown teammate Brody Merrill. The six-man organization that offers camps, clinics, private lessons and even college consulting to youths from all over Maryland. But his most significant contribution has come at his old high school, with the help of Whitman’s parent lacrosse organization, where they recently started the Andy Corno Scholarship to help current and future Vikings become as successful as possible.

Maybe even as successful as himself.

‘‘Lacrosse is my passion and I want to give back as much as possible, but where I want to help out most is obviously at Whitman,” said Corno, who opened Leaders Lacrosse this past winter. ‘‘I got approached by the Whitman parent group [WWLAX] to help out however it may be, and it really hit home. We discussed it back and forth, where my time would best fit and where I could make my biggest mark right away. Whitman’s a great school, and the place we felt I could start to give back was right on the lacrosse field.”

The Andy Corno Scholarship is an award given in conjunction with Whitman’s scholar-athlete program that recognizes both performance on the field and in the classroom. Corno is a perfect representative because not only did he excel on the field, where he was the Gazette Player of the Year in 2001 and a three-time NCAA All-American for the Hoyas, but he was also an Academic All-American.

In fact, academia is the backbone for the scholarship, which has three separate entities. The first recognizes Viking players that achieve a high grade point average, set at 3.2 this year (though Corno and WWLAX hope to increase the number), with lacrosse clothing, memorabilia or equipment.

The second is the actual scholarship, which rewards one player who ‘‘embodies what the whole program is about,” demonstrating dedication to lacrosse on the field with a good work ethic off of it. The exact dollar amount of the scholarship, which will go towards the player’s college tuition, is still up in the air, but Corno has already made one important step in the right direction — he will donate his game check from his first MLL game this summer directly to the scholarship.

Finally, and most importantly, is his presence. He already helps Whitman head coach Kevin Pope, who coached Corno up until graduation in 2001. As he put it, his line is ‘‘always open to the players, whether it be lacrosse-related issues, social issues, or grade issues.” While Corno and the rest of WWLAX know it will be tough for any Whitman grad to have as much success on the field as he had, the scholarship gives the program a platform that not many public schools have.

‘‘Andy came to the first annual alumni game in the spring and that was exciting for the kids because he plays professionally, so we thought, why not call him and find out what he says [about involvement]?” said Kate Slawta, an active member of WWLAX. ‘‘I talked to his mom and he said he’d be thrilled to. He came up with the idea for the scholarship, and we hadn’t been too terribly successful raising money, so he said, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll give my first check to the program.’ He’s just really a neat guy, he’s very available working with the kids’ recruiting, and he was a star at Whitman, so the kids love it.”

Corno credits the bulk of his successes to the discipline he received on two fields in high school. He remembers Pope putting him in all the right lacrosse tournaments to get him noticed by prospective colleges, but also thanks his Whitman football coaches, Andy Wetzel and Dean Swink, for instilling the discipline that propelled him to so much later success. The tireless offseason workouts helped Corno become a standout on the gridiron, where he was a first-team All-Gazette linebacker in his senior year, but also gave him a sense of regimen.

It’s that same discipline that Corno wants to see out of the students who now represent his alma mater. There have been a string of academic ineligibilities at Whitman, which was another prominent reason he decided to help.

‘‘We’ve had some problems in the classroom here and that’s what truly brought on the idea, because we don’t want that to be a problem,” said Pope. ‘‘Lets face it, lacrosse is a spring sport and a lot of seniors, once they decide on college, they kind of put it in cruise and it hurts us sometimes. Andy always was able to have that great balance of academics and athletics, so I’m really excited he is back in the area and willing to spend some time with Whitman.”

Prior to starting Leaders Lacrosse, Corno had another ambition. Along with his brother, Daniel, he opened up a chain of three restaurants called ‘‘The Pita Pit.” The eatery is a franchise founded in 1995 by Canadians John Sotiriadis and Nelson Lang, and the Cornos expanded the establishment to Maryland by jumpstarting restaurants near the college campuses of George Washington and Maryland-College Park.

But ultimately, he had more to give to lacrosse, which is now his year-long profession. And everyone involved in Whitman’s lacrosse program is benefiting.

‘‘I just want to say that with a little hard work and dedication, there are outlets for these to get themselves into college, whether it’s through lacrosse or otherwise,” said Corno. ‘‘We’ve had some problems at our school off the field, and you know, sometimes it can be hard for public school kids to get noticed. What I’m saying though, is that there’s enough at Whitman to go wherever you want to go.”