Matt Wixon

Archive | E-mail

Last weekend, Highland Park won its second straight Texas High School Lacrosse League championship. But the 7-5 victory over St. Mark's in the title game wasn't Highland Park's biggest win of the season.

The biggest win came six weeks earlier when Highland Park traveled to New Jersey and knocked off national power Lawrenceville on its home field.

"It was the biggest win in the history of our program," Highland Park coach Derek Thomson said of the 12-11 overtime victory.

Probably the biggest win in the history of Texas high school lacrosse, too. Highland Park, from lacrosse newbie Texas, beat a school that has played the sport since 1882. Yes, that's an 18 before the 82.

Highland Park didn't start playing until 1995. But the Scots' program has grown quickly, and it could help accelerate the sport's growth in the area.

"The national recognition is helping to not only spread the sport in Texas but also to boost our confidence," said junior defender Chris Hipps. "It lets us know we can compete with some of the East Coast powerhouses."

Highland Park is No. 20 in a pair of national rankings. When final rankings are released in a few weeks, Highland Park will probably be a few spots higher and become the first Texas team to finish in the top 20.

"Our program has always been thought of as, 'Hey, they're pretty good for Texas,' " Thomson said. "I think this year we took the next step in terms of we can pretty much play with anyone in the country."

More Texas teams might be able to say that in the future. New schools join the THSLL each year, and the league has 88 teams playing in three divisions. Highland Park has won four of the last six state titles in Division I, which features the area's other top teams, such as 2007 champ Episcopal School of Dallas, St. Mark's, Plano, Southlake Carroll and Jesuit. Fourteen other schools compete in lower divisions, including this year's Division II champion, Coppell.

All of them are chasing Highland Park, which has a monstrous club program that includes about 150 kids in grades one through four. It works a lot like the feeder programs that the top high school football programs employ, with all the kids learning the varsity system.

The early exposure to the sport is a big reason Highland Park churns out lacrosse recruits like a school from the Northeast. Last season, Tom Shuey (Hofstra), Matthew Fritts (Villanova), Jack Murtha (Air Force) and John and Charley Dickenson (Denver) were on collegiate rosters. Highland Park senior attacker Kevin Fritts has signed with Fairfield (Conn.), and Hipps has orally committed to Duke, which is playing in the NCAA lacrosse Final Four today.

Hipps said he would be among the expected crowd of 50,000 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. He'll be cheering for a national title, but in a few years he could be playing for one.

Some other North Texans might be playing for it, too.

"When we beat Lawrenceville, that did a lot for putting our state on the map," Thomson said. "I think it will open some doors."