The reaction of Marian Catholic sophomore Haley Taylor echoed the thoughts of many throughout the lacrosse community.
“I was just like, ‘Finally!'” Taylor said after the IHSA announced that boys and girls lacrosse would get their own state series beginning in 2018.
“People look at lacrosse as just a club, but we put in just as much work as any sport and it’s exciting that we’re going be recognized as an official sport now.”
The IHSA has had lacrosse classified as an emerging sport since 2009 and said that state playoff series would be held for boys and girls once at least 65 schools in the state entered boys teams and 40 entered girls teams.
Those benchmarks have now been met, with 83 boys teams and 59 girls teams competing this season.
“I’ve been fighting for this for many years,” said Tom Haggerty, who coaches the Chiefs, the boys co-op team for Andrew, Sandburg and Stagg. “I’m overjoyed that it’s going to happen. We’ll be accepted on campus now and have credibility. It’s a great thing for our sport.”
Haggerty said he’s part of a five-member board that will transition oversight for the sport from the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association to the IHSA.
Current seniors like Marian Catholic’s Alana Carta won’t get to see the state series come to fruition during their time in high school. But Carta says it’s still exciting to see lacrosse’s expansion be recognized.
“It’s cool to see the sport grow,” Carta said. “This will just get more people out here who want to play the sport. I’m really excited, especially for the younger girls who will get to be a part of it and continue the legacy of lacrosse at our school.”
Taylor, for one, can’t wait for 2018.
“Getting to play with my teammates, in that situation, in the state playoffs, is going to be really exciting,” Taylor said. “We’ve been getting more and more fans at our games and hopefully this will push even more people to come out and watch us.”
Boys water polo: Lincoln-Way East senior Bryan McNitt can hardly believe how far the Griffins have come in the last two years.
“My sophomore year, we won three games all season,” McNitt said. “This year, we did that in one day at a tournament. It’s amazing when you look at it like that.”
The Griffins improved to 10-16 last year in coach Zach Van Swol’s first season and are 14-3 this year. East has done it with a balanced attack.
“We have a lot of players that can shoot from outside,” junior Andrew Brozovic said. “I think that’s a big strength of our team. Anybody that’s in the pool has a chance to score for us.”
The Griffins are hoping to make a run in the Lincoln-Way North Sectional.
“All our seniors have been through a lot in this program and have worked really hard to turn it around,” McNitt said. “We want to get to state for all the seniors who deserve it.”
Boys tennis: Lemont juniors Peter Rogers and Faraz Longi had big shoes to fill, taking over as the Indians’ No. 1 doubles team after the graduation of Nick Urban and Nathaniel Burner, who advanced to the state quarterfinals last year.
Rogers and Longi have risen to the occasion, leading the Indians to a 7-0 start.
“They’re our co-captains and they’ve worked really hard together,” Lemont coach Jon DeGuzman said. “They played together in the offseason and built chemistry. They’re undefeated and playing great.”
DeGuzman has also been happy with his No. 2 doubles team of Charles Balisalisa and Arjun Reddigari.
Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
