Mary Pat Veihmeyer

Accomplished coach at Walt Whtiman High School, All-Met coach of the year, selector of schoolgirl teams at regional and national tournaments, graduate of Frostburg State College, dedicated elementary school teacher, pioneer for girls’ lacrosse development in Montgomery County, state lacrosse committee representative.

With the exponential growth of lacrosse in public schools over the past 20 years in the greater Washington, DC region, Montgomery County schoolgirl lacrosse might have been just an afterthought, if it were not for individuals like Mary Pat Veihmeyer.

Mary Pat began her successful coaching career in 1980. For 12 years, that career consisted of directing the field hockey program for Walt Whitman High School. When the hockey girls approached Mary Pat in 1992 about starting a lacrosse team, she agreed to help. She began with a handful of mostly field hockey players practicing a couple days a week. Her team would play private school junior varsities and the three other public schools in the county with lacrosse.

This mustard seed of a program grew quickly, increasing in both participation and practice time. For five years, Mary Pat served as a volunteer coach. When the county elevated the sport to varsity level in 1997, the Whitman Vikings led the way, and Mary Pat became a salaried lacrosse coach.

Mary Pat was named coach of the year by one or more publications in five of her first seven years as varsity coach. In 13 seasons as varsity head coach at Whitman, her teams have posted a combined record of 171-90-2 (.655). From 1996 through 2004, against fellow county schools played, Whitman recorded a 96-game winning streak that may never be duplicated. During this period, Mary Pat led her team to consecutive state tournament berths.

Mary Pat is an excellent communicator and teacher, providing opportunities to her team for discussing and learning. She always emphasizes life lessons and putting the team first. Her teams play to win, but also to have fun. Mary Pat represents district 2 on Maryland state lacrosse committee.

When time constraints in 2008 convinced Mary Pat to forego coaching one of her two teams, she gave up field hockey duties to stay with lacrosse. Her reasoning was that she felt she still had much more to accomplish in lacrosse.

Mary Pat truly enjoys working with younger players and for many years took county kids to Annapolis to participate in summer tournaments. In addition to her coaching duties, she has spent her career in elementary education. A lifelong resident of Bethesda, MD, Mary Pat currently coordinates staff development as Carderock Springs Elementary School.