Sports News: Fall 2002

Wednesday, July 17, 2002

MORAVIAN NAMES FRAN MEAGHER FIRST-EVER MEN’S LACROSSE COACH

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Fran Meagher has been selected by Moravian College to be the first coach of its men’s lacrosse program, which will begin its first varsity season in the spring of 2004.

Meagher will also serve as Moravian’s intramural director, an assistant football coach, and a member of the physical education department faculty in his full-time position that begins in mid-August.

“We are pleased and honored to have a coach such as Fran beginning our inaugural men’s lacrosse program,” stated Moravian Director of Athletics & Recreation Paul R. Moyer. “He brings a wealth of experience to the position, an understanding of developing new programs, and an outstanding commitment to Division III athletics.”

Meagher comes to Moravian after six seasons as head men’s lacrosse coach at DeSales University, where he began the Bulldog program from scratch, led the team to a 27-59 record and coached several All-Conference players. Overall, Meagher has been a head collegiate men’s lacrosse coach for 16 seasons including stops at Swarthmore College and Union College. He has a career coaching mark of 71-146.

“I’m excited about the opportunity at Moravian,” Meagher said. “I enjoyed starting the program at DeSales and hopefully will be able to take the Moravian program even further. The Middle Atlantic Conference has become very competitive in men’s lacrosse, but Moravian has shown throughout its entire athletic program that it can compete in the MAC. I think with a few good recruiting classes, we could be challenging for the MAC title in four or five years.”

On the football gridiron, Meagher was head coach at Muhlenberg College for four seasons in the early 1990s with a record of 10-28-1, including a 4-5 mark in his final season while coaching a first team All-American. Meagher was also head football coach at Swarthmore for five years with a 17-31 record, and he assisted with the football program while at Union.

Outside of athletics, Meagher worked as Director of Conference Services during his tenure at DeSales, and he was a special agent for NML Investment services for four years in the mid-1990s. Meagher earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the College of Holy Cross in 1973 and completed certification programs in secondary education at Coppin State College and Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland in 1974 and 1976 respectively.