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Looking Out for No. 3

A third state title game would add to Daniel Hostetler's family lore

RIVER HILL HIGH
Clarksville, Md.

DANIEL HOSTETLERis pursuing his own personal three-peat. In football he was a team captain,quarterback and all-state defensive back for River Hill High in Clarksville,Md., leading the Hawks to the Maryland 3A championship game. In basketball hewas a starting forward who helped his team win the state 3A title. Now he'splaying lacrosse, where he is again a captain and a high-scoring attack on ateam that's 5--2 and regarded as a title contender. Is a third championshipappearance in store? "I'm getting a lot of jokes about it," he says."I have to bring it home."

At home Daniel'ssuccess is taken in stride. When he goes to Georgetown next fall on a partiallacrosse scholarship, he'll become the 16th of the 19 grandchildren of Normanand Dolores Hostetler who have reached college age to play a college sport. Thegeneration before Daniel's didn't do badly, either; its four college athletesincluded his uncle Jeff, a West Virginia quarterback who started for the NewYork Giants in Super Bowl XXV. Does it all trace back to the clan founders?Norman, 73, a retired Mennonite farmer who was forbidden to play sports as ayoung child, defers credit to his late wife, saying, "Their mother was verycompetitive."

That spirit showsin Daniel—who has three older siblings and whose father, Doug, a family wealthplanner, played quarterback and linebacker at Penn State. Lacrosse coach KeithGonsouland says Daniel plays as if "he does not like to lose." Inbasketball Daniel averaged 10 points but defined his game with all-out play."He did all the little things—diving for loose balls, setting screens,taking a charge," says coach Matt Graves. "I gave him a coach's awardfor being an unsung hero."

Even though the6'2", 195-pound Daniel had football scholarship offers, he chose lacrossebecause, he says, "it's probably the most fun." At Georgetown he'llteam with brother Ben, a sophomore. Daniel says, "We played [together] alittle in high school and those were some of the best times."

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, TOO

DANIEL'S UNCLE Jeff Hostetler, a 13-year NFL vet, saysthat when he was growing up, he and his three brothers and three sisters (he'sthe fifth) went at each other a bit too hard. "We couldn't even playbadminton," says Jeff (right). "It got too intense." He feels afamiliar vibe when the next generation starts roughhousing at the family'stwice-yearly reunions. "We have to keep our eyes on them," he says.Jeff's son, Justin, the middle of three, is a defensive back at West Virginiaand one of the family's four current or incoming Division I football players;among the cousins are also college All-Americas in lacrosse and field hockey.Hostetler, 46, lives in Morgantown, W.Va., where he runs a construction companyand coaches QBs at University High. He says the kids are hard on him, too,especially when his NFL videos come out. "Not a lot of patting on theback," he says. "They get on you about everything."

 

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NANCY HOSTETLER (LACROSSE)

ATTACK MODE Scrappy Hostetler is an offensive force, and a captain, in lacrosse and football.

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JOHN ARONSON (FOOTBALL)

[See caption above]

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AL TIELEMANS (JEFF HOSTETLER)