Rob Bordley is one of the winningest coaches in Montgomery County history. He was the head lacrosse coach at Landon for 42 years, winning 655 games, the fifth most victories of any lacrosse coach in the country. Bordley also excelled in rugby, playing for Washington RFC as well as the US national rugby team. After earning 17 varsity letters playing at Landon, Bordley went on to Princeton where he excelled in lacrosse and football, earning all-Ivy League honors in both. He is a member of the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame and the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Sally Glynn Hauser won all but 10 races out of over 200 races in Montgomery County. She won four consecutive county, regional, and state titles in her time at Walter Johnson from 1992-1996. She was the only Montgomery County runner to qualify for nationals, where she finished second in the Foot Locker national cross country race. Her success continued at Stanford where she was an all-American in both cross country and track and field.
Steve Francis was the 2nd pick in the 1999 NBA draft after his one incredible season at the University of Maryland. He immediately made an impact by winning Rookie of the Year. The Takoma Park native dropped out of Blair High School before earning his GED and attending two community colleges. He then transferred home as a junior to become a Maryland Terrapin. “Stevie Franchise” went on to play 10 seasons in the NBA for Houston, Orlando, and New York, and was a three time All Star.
Sonny Jackson played 12 seasons in the major leagues for the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. A two sport star at Blair, he was offered a scholarship at the University of Maryland to play baseball and basketball, but instead chose professional baseball. He set the NL rookie record with 49 steals in 1966, while also finishing runner up for Rookie of the Year. That year, he led the NL in singles with 160. After his playing career ended, Sonny became a coach and manager in the minor leagues and major leagues for the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs.
Tim Kurkjian is one of the most respected baseball writers and analysts around. The Bethesda native attended Walter Johnson and the University of Maryland before beginning his writing career with the hometown Montgomery Journal. He was a beat writer covering the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles in the 1980s before becoming a senior baseball writer for Sports Illustrated. In 1998 he was hired by ESPN where he has spent the last 24 years as a baseball writer, reporter, and analyst.
Clarence “Pint” Isreal was a member of the 1946 Negro League World Series champion Homestead Grays. Growing up in Rockville, he spent 5 seasons in professional baseball. The second baseman was nicknamed “Pint” due to his 5’5” stature. In the 1930s, he played in sandlot and semipro leagues representing Rockville. Like many others at the time, his baseball career was interrupted in the 1940s by two years serving in the US Army. Isreal spent his military years in World War II in Texas and Alaska, where he played and managed his baseball all star team. After his career, he worked at NIH in Bethesda as a lab technician from 1948-1973. He was also active in promoting youth baseball in Rockville and co-founded the Black Angels Boys Club of Rockville, where he coached and mentored hundreds of kids. Isreal died in Rockville in 1987.
