If you didn't know better, you'd think that the 2003 NLL Entry Draft actually began with a Burnaby Junior Lakers reunion.

Defenseman Mark Miyashita was selected first overall in today's draft, by the Vancouver Ravens, with Taylor Wray quickly going second to the Calgary Roughnecks.

Both played their junior lacrosse in Burnaby, where the highly successful Lakers are run by Ravens head coach Paul Dal Monte and assistant general manager Dave Lough.

"That's a real testament to the Burnaby program, with former junior Lakers as the top two picks in this year's NLL pro draft," Ravens general manager Dave Evans said. "It's a great sidebar to this year's draft."

This isn't even the first time Miyashita and Wray have paraded to the podium in sequence. They also were drafted one-two in the most recent Western Lacrosse Association draft.

"We're pretty honored about it," Miyashita said. "We can't wait to line up against each other. It'll be awesome to do that."

Both players come to the NLL with college degrees and the desire to stay in the classroom.

Miyashita, of Canisius College in Buffalo, is looking to get his masters degree at the University of British Columbia while playing for the Ravens.

Wray, a Duke University product, is already in graduate school at Queen's University in Charlotte and plans to commute to Calgary for the games.

"I've looked at their schedule and it fits with mine," Wray said. "If we can work something out with the flight schedules, we should be able to do it."

Miyashita and Wray also become hometown heroes. The former is from Richmond, British Columbia, while the latter comes out of the Alberta minor lacrosse system.

Falling into Philadelphia's lap at number three was forward Ryan Ward, who tumbled past the two western Canadian teams due to his desire to live in the United States. Ward -- from Victoria, B.C. -- attended Butler University in Indianapolis.

Make no mistake about it, even with the A.J. Shannon talk lately -- this is the man Wings general manager Marty O'Neill wanted.

"Ryan was the best player available in today's draft," O'Neill said. "Since he made his intentions to play in Philadelphia very clear, Vancouver and Calgary passed him by with the first and second picks. We are very fortunate to obtain this quality of player with our draft position."

Vancouver, which agonized over how to optimize its two first-round picks, settled on Craig Conn, who helped lead the St. Catharines Junior Athletics to the Minto Cup championship this summer, with the fourth-overall selection.

"I've coached against [Conn] for three years in three consecutive Minto Cups," Dal Monte said. "What I like about him most is that, when it's the biggest game and the biggest moment of the game, he steps up.

"He's not afraid to play in traffic. He's tough. He has a lot of athleticism. He's the whole package. I love the way he plays."

Conn will move to Vancouver in order to play for the Ravens.

Scott Evans was selected fifth, by the Rochester Knighthawks, allowing him to join fellow Peterborough, Ontario, product John Grant, Jr. on one of the league's top teams.

Shannon, the University of Virginia star, landed with the Buffalo Bandits at number six, while Victoria's Scott Ranger stayed in the west, going to the San Jose Stealth.

The Toronto Rock then wasted little time in spoiling Philadelphia's hopes, selecting Salisbury State forward Josh Bergey eighth-overall.

With many expecting the Wings to pay a premium to unite Bergey with older brother Jake, perhaps with the very next pick, the Rock's fill-in draft team grabbed the 72-goal, 48-assist monster forward.

Rock general manager and head coach Les Bartley, who normally mans these events for the defending champs, remained in St. Catharines, where he was scheduled to undergo tests for non-life threatening medical issues.

Assistant coaches Derek Keenan and Ed Comeau, plus top scout Sean Farris, ran the Rock's table -- with Bartley plugged in by telephone.

"We thought [Bergey would] go earlier," Keenan said. "At that position, number [eight], he was the best player available."

Philadelphia rebounded nicely from that downer, though, to grab Tom Hajek of St. Catharines. Hajek, a University of Vermont graduate, was a member of the Mann Cup-winning Victoria Shamrocks (WLA) last summer. The Lacrosse Journal, in its draft preview, compared him to Rochester's Andrew Turner as a "small but solid defender."

The pace slowed down and the drama waned as the first round came to a close, with Kelly Hall (San Jose), Kyle Neufeld (Arizona), and Kevin Olson (Vancouver) rounding out the top twelve.

Olson's pick, twelfth overall, was the first of seven to be traded. Vancouver dangled Peter Veltman, acquired in July's dispersal draft, as bait to move up from fourteenth overall.

Olson's selection itself sparked a little controversy. The Burnaby product was actually drafted a year ago by Vancouver (46th overall), but since he was playing for the University of Denver at the time, the Ravens lost his rights.

In other transfers involving NLL veterans, Brock Robertson went from San Jose to Rochester, Ryan O'Connor was dealt from Vancouver to Rochester, and Matt Oglesby jumped from Colorado to San Jose.

The "Mr. Irrelevant" pick, 83rd overall by Philadelphia, was spent on a player definitely not irrelevant to the Wings. Kyle Sweeney, the two-time ECAC Defensive Player of the Year at Georgetown, resides in nearby Springfield, PA, and is one of several area products O'Neill drafted.

Full draft results follow.

##  TEAM             SELECTION 
--  ---------------  ---------------------------------------
 1  Vancouver (Ana)  Mark Miyashita / Canisius College
 2  Calgary (NY)     Taylor Wray / Duke University
 3  Philadelphia     Ryan Ward / Butler University
 4  Vancouver        Craig Conn / St. Catharines
 5  Rochester        Scott Evans / Peterborough
 6  Buffalo (Ana)    AJ Shannon / University of Virginia
 7  San Jose (Ott)   Scott Ranger / Victoria
 8  Toronto (Arz)    Josh Bergey / Salisbury State Univ.
 9  Philadelphia     Thomas Hajek / Univ. of Vermont 
10  San Jose         Kelly Hall / Whittier College
11  Arizona          Kyle Neufeld / St. Catharines
12  * Vancouver      Kevin Olson / Burnaby

13  Toronto (Van)    Stew Monture / Six Nations
14  * Arizona (Cal)  Mark Paniccia / St. Catharines
15  * San Jose (Buf) Derek Lowe / Coquitlam
16  Rochester        Buck Stobart / Victoria
17  Toronto          Ryan McClay / Cornell University
18  San Jose (Ana)   Andrew Biers / Whittier College
19  Anaheim (Ott)    Cam Bergman / Coquitlam
20  * Vanc (Phi)     Devan Wray / Edmonton (ALA Jr A)
21  San Jose         Kyle McEwan / New Westminster
22  Vancouver        Greg Lemieux / Surrey

23  Calgary          Brad McDonald / Orangeville
24  Colorado         Curtis Smith / Ohio State University
25  Arizona (Buf)    Cole Murray / Victoria
26  Rochester        Tim Booth / Hobart College
27  * Anaheim        Damien Davis / Princeton University
28  Anaheim          Luke Forget / Brampton
29  Arizona          Kevin Leveille / Univ. of Massachusetts
30  Philadelphia     Michael Howley / University of Maryland
31  San Jose         Brian Potter / Victoria
32  * Rochester      Kevin Cassese / Duke University
33  Arizona          Tyler Johnson / Elora 

34  Calgary          Jeff Moleski / Prince George
35  Colorado         Dan Cocchi / Towson State University
36  Buffalo          Adam Doneger / John Hopkins University
37  Rochester        Solomon Bliss / Syracuse University
38  Toronto          Matt Marchildon / Brock University
39  Anaheim          Brad Scott / New Westminster
40  Arizona          Chris Fiore / Univ. of Massachusetts
41  Philadelphia     Kevin Brennan / Duke University
42  San Jose         Kitan Gbadebo / Coquitlam
43  Vancouver        Geordie Wells / Surrey

44  Calgary          Sterling Mitchel / Victoria
45  Colorado         Graham Palmer / Victoria
46  Buffalo          Scott Gillingham / Mississauga
47  Rochester        Jon Sullivan / St. Catharines
48  Toronto          Chad Francis / Barrie
49  Anaheim          Jeff Brownlee / Kitchener
50  Arizona          Luke Oglesby / Penn State University
51  Philadelphia     Pat Collins / Georgetown
52  San Jose         Luke Gilbert / Whittier College
53  Vancouver        Tyler Heavenor / Adelphi College

54  Calgary          Peter Gut / St. Andrews
55  Colorado         Devon Spiker / Limestone
56  Buffalo          David Brown / Toronto Beaches
57  Rochester        Chris Rotelli / Univ. of Virginia
58  Toronto          Chris McElroy / Orangeville
59  Anaheim          Ryan McMichael / Scarborough
60  Arizona          Richard Haan / Halton Hills
61  Philadelphia     Michael Springer / Syracuse University
62  San Jose         Matt Bontaites / Syracuse University
63  Vancouver        Adam Smith / Burnaby

64  Calgary          Chris Milhus / Calgary Raiders
65  Colorado         Pat Meyers / Ohio State University
66  Buffalo          Nathan Russell / New Westminster
67  Rochester        Kevin Einsor / Univ. of Rhode Island
68  Toronto          Cal Smith / Adelphi College
69  Anaheim          Brian Kelly / Whittier College
70  Anaheim (Ott)    Matt Silverio / Hamilton College
71  Arizona          Travis Eckler / Hartford 
72  Philadelphia     Michael Pape / Cabrini College
73  San Jose         Kevin Reid / Coquitlam

74  Vancouver        David White / Delta
75  Calgary          Robert McGowen / Port Coquitlam
76  Colorado         Mike Frissora / Middlebury College
77  Buffalo          Jon Ianucci / Coquitlam
78  Rochester        Mike Mollot / University of Maryland
79  Toronto          Joshua Arnold / Milton
80  Toronto (Ana)    Justin Kennedy / Barrie
81  Anaheim (Ott)    Matt Kwiecien / Winnipeg
82  Arizona          Mike Bonk / London
83  Phila. (Col)     Kyle Sweeney / Georgetown University


FOOTNOTES:
 - All OLA/BCLA players are Jr A unless otherwise noted
 - Picks 11, 12, and 33 awarded to Arizona, prior to 
     draft, as compensatory selections
 - Arizona traded the 12th-overall pick to Vancouver
     for Peter Veltman and the 14th-overall pick
 - Rochester traded the 15th-overall pick to San Jose 
     for Brock Robertson
 - Rochester traded the 20th-overall pick to Vancouver
     for Ryan O'Connor and the 32nd-overall pick
 - Toronto traded the 27th-overall pick to Anaheim 
     for a third-round pick in the 2004 entry draft
 - San Jose traded the 31st-overall pick to Colorado
     for Matt Oglesby
 - Rochester traded Ted Jenner to Anaheim for 
     conditional picks in the 2005 entry draft