WC_031518

winnetkacurrent.com sports
the winnetka current | March 15, 2018 | 59
Lacrosse
Sport faces minor, unique changes with IHSA sanction
Michal Dwojak
Contributing Sports Editor
The IHSA sanctioning of
boys and girls lacrosse had
been a decade in the making.
When the IHSA announced
in 2017 that lacrosse
would become an
official IHSA sport this
spring, many expected
sweeping changes coming
to area teams.
But that hasn’t been the
case, surprisingly.
Despite the few changes
coaches and players will
need to make this season,
nearly everything will remain
the same based on the
respect lacrosse has earned
from area athletic directors.
It has been a slow build
for the sport, and has taken
some time for the IHSA to
recognize it.
“I think the state has always
recognized the level
of play,” said New Trier
coach Pete Collins, who
was a key leader to helping
lacrosse become a
sanctioned sport. “When it
became an emerging sport,
they realized how much it’s
growing and we needed to
set a minimum number of
teams to have.”
Local interest has grown
over the last 20 years,
and by 2017 lacrosse had
achieved the appropriate
numbers to become sanctioned.
Those key numbers
were achieved, partly, by
the youth leagues that have
been established over the
last few years.
“It comes from a youth
level because the kids are
playing it and parents are
wondering why we don’t
have it,” Collins said.
“Years ago when I started,
there were seven schools
playing and now it grew
into the teens, 20s, 30s and
now over 60.”
For most area coaches,
the official sponsorship
of lacrosse by the IHSA
doesn’t change much, if
anything, in how they will
run their programs this
spring. Many are ready
to continue with business
as usual, but that doesn’t
mean they don’t appreciate
the significance of the
IHSA officially taking lacrosse
seriously.
Coaches have spent
nearly a decade working
with IHSA administrators
on fulfilling the requirements
for the sport to be
officially recognized. All
the teams in the state have
run things as if they already
were an IHSA sport including
scheduling that still
works the same, games are
played with the same rules
and the players follow the
same policies.
It just took time to get
the numbers of necessary
teams to become recognized.
“The IHSA has been
good to us,” Loyola coach
John Dwyer said. “Some of
the coaches and I have been
going down to Bloomington
as (long) as four years
ago and over the course of
time, as the transition was
unfolding, more teams
were coming into the fold.”
Seeding Issues
So, what will change for
area teams this season?
For many schools and
athletic directors, lacrosse
was functioning as a sanctioned
sport already. The
main difference this season
will be postseason seeding.
“In the past we’ve had
our coaches meeting at
the end our year, seeding
our playoffs,” Dwyer said.
“This year’s playoff will
look different but that’s not
something we worry about
because that’s something
we can’t control.”
Both boys and girls lacrosse
ran the playoff ordering
by seeds instead
of the traditional regional
and sectional format the
IHSA runs based on proximity.
This means teams
like Loyola and New Trier
could play each other much
earlier than in the past.
Coaches ultimately
know that if they want to
be the best, they’ll have
to beat the best, no matter
when they play each other.
The new sectional format
could give other teams a
better run at a state title in
the future.
“The seeding in the sectionals
means a lot to a lot
of teams,” said Marc Thiergart,
LF boys coach. “If
you’re in a sectional with
two or three tough teams
it’s going to be hard to win
your first couple playoff
games.”
Financial Consistency A
major concern for a sport
being officially sanctioned
is the financing.
Some schools struggle
with adjusting budgets to
fit that new sport in, especially
with supplies and
equipment costs that can
accompany a new sport.
But, lacrosse is different.
Financing for area schools,
in large part, will remain
the same since most athletic
departments have already
treated lacrosse as if
it were an IHSA sport
“The finances haven’t
changed, but we’ve been
mirroring IHSA sports,”
GBS boys coach Will Jeffery
said. “Our athletic director
has been in charge
of the program. Coaches
are paid by the district,
boosters helps with some
things.”
Most players are required
to buy their own equipment,
such as sticks, shoulder
pads and gloves. The
only piece of equipment
that the school provides is
helmets for the boys teams.
The booster programs, run
by parents, will remain in
place for most schools.
“That does help, lacrosse
is not a cheap sport to play
or keep going,” said Ryan
Werhane, HP boys coach.
“We are continuing to have
our parents have fundraisers.”
Despite the lack of
changes in the short-term,
coaches are looking forward
to the lasting impact
sanctioning could have
on the sports health in
the state, especially Central
and Southern Illinois.
With the growth in popularity,
coaches hope the
change not only affects the
growth of the sport at the
high school level but at the
youth level as well.
“We don’t have the numbers
at the youth level that
you would see with a soccer
or softball,” GBS girls
coach Annie Lesch said, “I
hope by going IHSA it will
have a trickle effect on the
girls at the youth level.”
It took almost a decade
for the IHSA and lacrosse to
come together, so it won’t
be easy for the sport to continue
to grow in the state.
Different area schools are
working to establish youth
programs so athletes aren’t
learning how to play the
sport for the first time when
they try out for a lacrosse
team. The youth level will
be critical for the growth of
a sport still seen as emerging
in the Midwest.
Area teams seem to be
on the right track.
Additional reporting by Sports
Editors Brittany Kapa and
Michael Wojtychiw
Girls track and field
Loyola, McKinley
impress at Giant Relays
David Jaffe
Freelance Reporter
The indoor track and
field season is quickly coming
to an end, but teams are
still looking to make lasting
impressions as they prepare
for the outdoor season. One
of those last meets was the
Giant Relays, hosted by
Highland Park, on Friday,
March, 9.
Arguably the most unusual
event was the distance
medley relay, which
consisted of the lead leg
running three laps, the second
running five, seven
from the third and 10, a full
mile, from the anchor.
Loyola’s Lainey McKinley
was up to the task as the
Ramblers’ distance medley
won in 13:24.6. Loyola was
second at the meet (69).
“This was the first time
I ran the mile in indoor,”
McKinley said. “You just
have to know what pace
to run at and in general, be
able to adapt. Most of indoor
is going to be a lot of
different types of races that
you don’t normally compete
in. So, you just have
to be able to adapt to anything.
It’s a little extra than
the 800 so you just have to
make sure your endurance
is where it needs to be.”
As a senior, she enjoys
her role as one of the Ramblers’
leaders and she’s excited
about what her team
has done so far in indoor
and what they’re capable of
doing.
“It really means a lot
to me to help some of the
younger girls out and be
the experienced one. I think
all the seniors enjoy that,”
McKinley said. “We’ve
done really well so far. I’m
excited about what we can
do in the 4x8. We’re ninth
in the state at the moment
in that relay. I think we
have a very good chance to
have a lot of success.”
And she feels the indoor
season has been very beneficial.
“These last few weeks
have prepared us really
well,” McKinley said. “I
think it’s helped us get to
the fitness level we need to
be at for outdoor and at that
point, hopefully we can
start to really fly.”
Loyola was also second
in long jump (43-2), sprint
medley (1:37.5) and middistance
(3:41).
As the final leg of the
4x400-meter relay approached,
Highland Park’s
Stephanie Kriss had a lot
of ground to make up to
catch Vernon Hills in the
last event of the 36th annual
Giant Relays, where
all events, including field
events, were relays.
Although she fell a little
short, her effort helped
her team finish second in
4:23.9. HP won the eightteam
invite with 92 points.
“I tried as hard as I could
and focused only on catching
up to the girl ahead of
me,” Kriss said. “Even
though I wanted to win,
I was proud of how I ran
and was happy that I was
able to make up that much
ground.”
She also anchored the
winning mid-distance relay
(3:26.9) where the first two
runners ran a lap, the third
runner ran two and the anchor
finished up with four.
HP won the long jump
relay (44-10 ½), triple jump
(89-10), the sprint medley
(1:30.5), the 50 low hurdle
shuttle (35.9) and the
4x160 (1:29.2) while also
taking second in shot put
(90-0.5).