The Challenge School rocked and roared Tuesday as 240 students and staffers cheered teacher and Colorado Mammoth forward Brian Langtry.
Langtry and his teammates won their first National Lacrosse League championship Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y.
Tuesday’s rally was a surprise. Principal Jane Miller paged Langtry from his classroom to the school gymnasium. He was greeted by the Olympic theme song and an entire student body. The kids erupted into loud applause and cheered wildly when they saw the athlete.
“He’s really funny, really smart and makes learning fun,” said student Patty Murphy-Geiss, 14.
Langtry, who scored four goals and three assists during the 16-9 title game over the Buffalo Bandits, appeared stunned by the accolades.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” he said. “This makes me feel really good. Thank you.”
This celebration followed his turning 30 on Monday, when his students decorated the lacrosse champion’s classroom with red and black balloons, in honor of the Mammoth’s team colors..
Langtry, who’s from Massapequa, N.Y., began playing lacrosse at age 8. Players, using a long stick with a pouch at one end, try to put a small rubber ball into an opponent’s goal.
In 1998, Langtry graduated from Hofstra University, where he was named an all-American in lacrosse. Before joining the Mammoth in 2003, he played for the Bridgeport Barrage and Baltimore Bayhawks.
Langtry is the Mammoth’s all-time leading playoff goal scorer and the team’s third-leading scorer in 2003 and 2004.
He also teaches humanities – a combination of language arts and social studies – to seventh- and eighth- graders at The Challenge School, a Cherry Creek magnet school for gifted and advanced students. He teaches an elective on lacrosse there, and he’s the boys lacrosse coach at Arapahoe High School.
Challenge School math teacher and avid Mammoth fan Sue Whitnah doesn’t need to learn the game. She cheered her colleague on by joining five family members who gathered at an Old Chicago restaurant Saturday to watch the championship.
“He’s passionate about what he teaches,” Whitnah said Tuesday, “and he’s passionate about the game.”
Staff writer Annette Espinoza can be reached at 303-820-1655 or aespinoza@denverpost.com.
