RC's Sarro, SU's LaTona Earn Major Honors

FOREST, Va. --- Washington and Lee University attackman A.J. Witherell and Hampden-Sydney College head coach Jason Rostan headline the 2017 All-ODAC Men's Lacrosse awards, as the two were named ODAC Player of the Year and ODAC Coach of the Year. Roanoke College scorer Jason Sarro received ODAC Rookie of the Year laurels, while Shenandoah University attackman Stephen LaTona repeated as the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete.

The 2017 all-conference lists feature many new honorees with just 13 repeat selections of 45 total All-ODAC slots. Nine of those, however, do appear on the All-ODAC First Team. Roanoke's midfield duo of Kevin Jackson and IV Stucker are back on the top team, with this representing the third such selection for Jackson. They're joined by teammate Conn Curry, who is a first teamer at defense this year after earning a spot at long stick last season. Hampden-Sydney attackman Ian Levin and midfielder Hunter Brown moved up from the second team, a feat also accomplished by Lynchburg College defenseman Cole Barrett and a pair of Generals in Witherell and defenseman Kyle Gifford. Shenandoah goalkeeper Ben Judy made the leap from the 2016 third team to this year's first team.

RELATED: 2016 All-ODAC Teams | All-Time All-ODAC

Witherell, a sophomore from Wilmington, Del., has had strong two seasons in Lexington as he pairs this honor with the conference's top rookie award last year. Witherell led all ODAC players with 88 points as a true playmaker. He's fifth in the league in both goals scored and assists, racking up 52 tallies and 36 helpers. He registered at least two points in each of his 17 games played and scored a goal in all but one contest. He notched four or more points in a game 14 times, including season-highs of eight points on three separate occasions. Witherell, who led the ODAC in shots with 160, added 55 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers to his stat line.

Rostan is in the midst of his first season holding the reins of the Tigers program following 13 years as an assistant for his father, Ray, who retired after 32 years following the 2016 campaign. Jason Rostan led H-SC to a 12-5 showing overall and 6-3 mark in ODAC play on the way to the conference tournament's fourth seed. The Tigers rattled off three wins on the way to hoisting their fifth ODAC trophy and securing the league's automatic bid in to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Rostan's squad has made good on that distinction thus far, claiming a 23-8 win over Transylvania University in the second round earlier this week.

Sarro, a freshman from Baltimore, Md., became an offensive force from the word "go" in his first season in Salem, leading the Maroons with 63 points. That mark sits sixth in the ODAC while his 23 assists are ninth and his 40 goals scored are 11th. He's also one of the most adept scorers in man-up situations, registering seven goals. Sarro registered three or more points in 13 of his 16 games played, immediately announcing his presence with a season-best seven points on four goals and three assists in a win over Birmingham Southern in the first game of the season. He scored four goals in a game three other times later in the season.

LaTona, a senior from Ellicott City, Md., has enjoyed this honor each of the past two seasons. He also earned an All-ODAC Second Team nod, moving up from two selections to the third team. In the classroom, LaTona boasts a 3.90 grade point average as a Finance major. The Hornets' captain will be a four-time honoree on the All-ODAC Academic Team later this summer.  He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, and earned Academic All-State honors from VaSID the past two seasons.  On the field, LaTona became the SU all-time leading scorer with 235 points and 173 goals scored. This season, he ranks fifth in the ODAC with 52 goals scored to go with nine assists for an ODAC eighth-best 61 points. He scored at least one goal in 16-of-17 games played and recorded at least three points in a game 11 times. He posted a season-high seven points on three occasions, including seven goals in a win at Virginia Wesleyan late in the regular season.

Listed below are the full All-ODAC Men's Lacrosse Teams.  For more information, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.