The 2009 Lee-Jackson Lacrosse Classic scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2 at Washington & Lee's Wilson Field. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Admission to the contest is free, and live stats will be available at the link located above.

The Lee-Jackson is a fall exhibition matchup between crosstown opponents VMI and Washington & Lee which dates back to 1988. However, the impetus for the game was a clash on VMI's Parade Ground in 1987. VMI, then in its fifth season with a varsity program, battled a W&L team ranked No. 1 in Division III to a 9-9 tie into the fourth quarter before the Generals pulled away for a 15-9 win.

“There were 1,200 to 1,500 people at the game and they had to stop it several times to move people off the end lines,” recalled former VMI head coach Doug Bartlett. “The atmosphere at that game was unbelievable and the interest from that game gave birth to the Lee-Jackson Classic.”

The inaugural Lee-Jackson game was played in 1988 on W&L's Wilson Field and the Keydets prevailed 15-9. W&L won 16-straight games from 1989-2004, but VMI claimed the 2005 meeting by a score of 12-4. W&L has captured each of the last four meetings, including last year's contest and two games in 2007, when the event was played twice in order to shift from a spring, regular-season game to a fall exhibition.

The main tradition revolving around the annual contest is the Worrell-Fallon Award, which is given to honor the most valuable player
from each team. The award is named after two men, DeWitt (De) Worrell and Gary Fallon, who helped bridge the gaps between the two schools and the community before their lives were tragically cut short.

De Worrell, VMI '62, was a prominent Lexington businessman, church and civic leader and active VMI alumnus. He was a star football player and later became an important advisor to the athletic department. He served on the Keydet Club Board of Governors from 1986 through 1992. At the time of his death, he was the VMI Board of Visitors representative to the Athletic Council. In 1995, De was posthumously awarded the Keydet Club's highest honor, the Spirit of VMI award, and later that year, he was recognized as the Outstanding Citizen of the Year for a 20-county area through Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.

Fallon came to Lexington in 1978 as W&L's head football coach and became the school's all-time winningest coach in the sport. Fallon graduated from Syracuse in 1962 where he starred in football, wrestling and lacrosse. He was also a top-rated lacrosse official and worked several NCAA playoff games.