From the Goal Line

If you’ve never checked out the Score Czar’s site you should. The site has kept rankings and scores for the past several seasons for football and now has basketball as well.

The latest rankings run through Dec. 30 and place Mercer Island as the No. 2 team in the 3A classification. Rainier Beach is No. 1 and Mountlake Terrace is No. 3. Bellevue is the only other KingCo team in the top 10, ranked No. 10.

While the site’s blog says the rankings are based on just the few games played prior to the Christmas break, it still gives a rough idea of where teams stand.

Information is available for both Washington girls and boys basketball teams, as well as high school teams from Oregon and Idaho, and NCAA rankings.

Check it out here.

Lacrosse as a high school sport in Washington is only continuing to become more popular, as seven new teams will begin playing this spring.

Below is a press release from Washington High School Lacrosse. The new league alignments for the 2013 season are at the bottom.

The high school lacrosse season for boys and girls in Washington state gets underway in early March with the addition of seven new school teams in Spokane, Vancouver and Gig Harbor.

This spring’s expansion marks the first time in the four decades of high school lacrosse in Washington state that seven varsity teams have been added in a single season in boys or girls play.

“The demand for lacrosse participation opportunities in our high schools continues to expand for boys and girls – specifically in Eastern Washington,” said Dave Low, President of the Washington State Chapter of US Lacrosse.

In Spokane, Gonzaga Prep and Lewis & Clark High School, along with combined programs at University-Ferris High Schools, and Mt. Spokane-Mead High Schools will begin Washington state play for the first time in 2013. Gonzaga Prep and University-Ferris have had established teams playing neighboring Idaho high schools throughout the past decade.

With the addition of the Inland Empire schools, a total of eight individual boys and girls Eastern Washington high school teams from Spokane, Wenatchee, Selah and Tri Cities will see prep lacrosse action in the spring.

In the Vancouver area, Camas High School and Union High School will also begin play this spring.  The two boys teams join King’s Way High School along with a girl’s team at Evergreen High School to round-out lacrosse play in SW Washington.

Gig Harbor and Peninsula High Schools, which have fielded a combined boys varsity team since 2010, will elevate its girls junior varsity team to varsity play in 2013 to round-out the new additions.

“As a sport, we are thrilled with the acceptance of lacrosse in Spokane, Camas and Gig Harbor schools,” said Low.  “As lacrosse continues its unprecedented growth at the youth and high school levels in Washington state, US Lacrosse is committed to working side-by-side with local schools to help them accommodate their students’ interest in playing the sport on campus,” he said.

Since 2010, US Lacrosse along with the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association and the Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association has facilitated the start-up of 23 new high school lacrosse teams (16 boys and seven girls) throughout Washington state, bringing the 2013 season total to 166 individual boys and girls high school teams.  At the high school level, lacrosse has expanded at a double-digit average annual growth rate over the past decade with 4,000 student-athletes attending some 200 WIAA schools playing the sport.

In 2013, as a means to more accurately reflect the interest of high school students playing lacrosse for their school sponsored or school club teams, all boys high school teams in Washington state will directly reflect the name of the individual schools of their student-athletes.  Girls teams representing multiple high schools will continue to be referenced by their club name.

The complete 2013 Washington State High School schedule for boys and girls lacrosse is available atwww.WashingtonHSLAX.com

Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association

Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association play gets underway on Friday, March 8 with two games as Division I state champion Bellevue High School visits Bainbridge High School for a 7:30 p.m. start at Bainbridge Stadium and Newport-Sammamish High School takes on Seattle Prep in a 7 p.m. start at Newport High School.

New in 2013 are schools playing boys lacrosse in Spokane and Vancouver, Washington.

In Spokane, Gonzaga Prep opens at home against Lewis & Clark High School on Wednesday, March 13 in a 7 p.m. start, while Mt. Spokane-Mead opens against Ferris-University on Thursday, March 14 in a 5 p.m. start at Mead High School.

Throughout the past decade, Gonzaga Prep has been a regular in the North Idaho Lacrosse League championship tournament making five title-game appearances since beginning play in 2003.  The Bullpups have three NILL titles to their credit, most recently in 2011.

The Spokane schools will join the Division II Eastern Washington Conference that includes the Wenatchee High School program.  Along with Selah and Richland High Schools, a total of eight high school lacrosse programs are now in place in Eastern Washington.

In Southwestern Washington, Camas and Union High Schools will begin Division II play in 2013.  The two will join the Division II Central-South Conference along with Selah and Richland.

Union High School opens against Camas High School also on Wednesday, March 13 in a 5 p.m. start at Pacific Middle School in Vancouver, Wash.

Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association

Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association play gets underway on Monday, March 11 with Mercer Island taking on Garfield in an 8 p.m. start at Mercer Island High School, Overlake facing Forest Ridge in a 5 p.m. start at the Overlake School in Redmond, and Puyallup (Puyallup-Emerald Ridge High Schools) taking on Mukilteo (Kamiak High School) in Mukilteo.

State champion Bainbridge High School opens their 2013 girls varsity season against the Overlake School on Wednesday, March 13 with a 6:30 p.m. start at Bainbridge Stadium.

New in 2013 is a girls varsity program from Gig Harbor and Peninsula High Schools.  Since 2010, the two have combined to field a boys team and in 2012 fielded a combined girls team at the junior varsity level.

The season concludes with the Washington Lacrosse Girls State Championship on Friday, May  17 at the Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish.

The Washington Lacrosse Boys State Championship in Division I and II takes place Saturday, June 1 at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.

Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association – Varsity

Boys Division I 

King East Conference
Eastlake High School
Issaquah High School
Skyline High School
Snohomish High School
Woodinville High School

King West Conference
Bellevue High School
Bothell-Inglemoor High Schools
Lake Washington High School
Mercer Island High School
Sammamish-Newport High Schools 

Metro Conference
Bainbridge High School
Bellarmine Preparatory School
Eastside Catholic School
Kamiak High School
Lakeside School

South Sound Conference
Auburn Riverside High School
Curtis High School
Emerald Ridge-Puyallup High School
King’s Way High School
Tahoma High School

Boys Division II 

Skagit Conference
Burlington-Edison High School
Friday Harbor High School
Lynden High School
Providence Classical Christian School
Sehome-Ferndale High Schools

Cascade Conference
Everett High School
Meadowdale High School
Monroe High School
Shorecrest High School
Stanwood High School

KingCo Conference
Ballard High School
Garfield High School
Liberty High School
Mt. Si High School
Redmond High School
Roosevelt High School

Metro Conference
Blanchet High School
Highline High School
Kennedy Catholic High School
Nathan Hale High School
Overlake School
Seattle Preparatory Academy
Vashon High School

Olympic Conference
Klahowya Secondary School
North Kitsap High School
Peninsula-Gig Harbor High Schools
Port Angeles High School
South Kitsap High Schools
Stadium High School

Central-South Conference
Camas High School
Richland High School
Selah High School
Union High School

Eastern Conference
Ferris-University High Schools
Gonzaga Preparatory School
Mt. Spokane-Mead High Schools
Lewis & Clark High School
Wenatchee High School

Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association – Varsity

Peninsula Conference
Bellarmine Preparatory School
Curtis High School
Peninsula (Peninsula-Gig Harbor High Schools)
Klahowya Secondary School
North Kitsap High School
Stadium High School

Alki Conference
Bainbridge High School
Ballard High School
Garfield High School
Holy Names Academy
Kennedy Catholic High School
Mercer Island High School
Seattle Preparatory School

Nisqually Conference
Bethel High School
Evergreen High School
Graham-Kapowsin High School
Lake Tapps (Lake Tapps High School)
Puyallup (Rogers-Puyallup High Schools)
Spanaway Lake (Spanaway Lake High School)
Tahoma High School

Snoqualmie Conference
Bellevue High School
Bellevue East (Sammamish, Interlake, Newport High Schools and International School)
Eastside Catholic School
Forest Ridge School
Issaquah High School
Lake Sammamish (Lake Washington, Eastlake, Juanita, Redmond High Schools)
Overlake School

North Sound
Lakeside School
Mukilteo (Kamiak High School)
Nathan Hale High School
Roosevelt High School
Snohomish (Snohomish-Glacier Peak High Schools)
Wenatchee (Wenatchee High School)

Washington Prep Lacrosse had an article earlier today about eight members of the Mercer Island girls and boys lacrosse programs who have committed to play lacrosse at NCAA schools next year.

Here’s a link to the original post by Mike McQuaid.

MERCER ISLAND, Wash. — An unprecedented eight Mercer Island High School lacrosse standouts in 2012 have committed to play the sport at NCAA schools following graduation.

For Mercer Island, the six boys and two girls that have committed to play at the NCAA level is a single-year high-water mark for any Washington state high school in the four-decade history of prep lacrosse play in the state.

Leading the way with an NCAA Division I commitment to play for 2012 men’s national champion Loyola of Maryland is Islander junior defenseman Chase York.

Following his upcoming junior and senior years as an Islander, York plans to enroll at Loyola for the 2014-15 academic year. He will join a Greyhounds squad that finished its 2012 ECAC schedule at 6-0 (18-1 overall) on the way to capturing the NCAA Men’s Division I championship with a 9– 3 win over the University of Maryland.

Last spring, York helped his MI team advance to the semifinals of the 2012 Washington Lacrosse State Championship Tournament. As a sophomore, he had three goals and 27 ground balls in 14 regular-season games with the Islanders.

Other Mercer Island boys to commit to Division I programs are junior midfielder Peter Mahony, who will enter Yale in the fall of 2014, while senior midfielder Hayden Reisman will enroll at St. Johns and senior attackman Grant Priesler will enroll at Marquette this coming fall.

Division III boys commitments include seniors Justin Rorem and Lorenzo Powell. Rorem, an attackman, will enroll at Kenyon College in Ohio while Powell, a midfielder, will enroll at Centre College in Kentucky.

On the girl’s side, senior midfielders Tyler Sherper and Saffron Snethen will play at the Division III level. Sherper has committed to play at New York’s Colgate University, while Snethen will play at North Carolina’s Mt. Olive College in the fall.

“Our program has been going this direction for the past decade,” said Mercer Island boys head coach Ian O’Hearn, whose Islanders have played in the Washington state boys championship game 10 times since 2001, while taking the title in five of those years.

Since beginning high school play in 1993, over 70 Mercer Island boys and girls have gone on to play either NCAA or club lacrosse at the collegiate level following graduation.

“We’ve been doing a better job of exposing our kids to the opportunity of playing with NCAA schools and giving them the exposure they need to be recognized at that level,” said O’Hearn who, despite his on-field success and the visibility that his student-athletes are getting this year, is still not convinced that he has the best boys team in the state for the upcoming spring season.

“A lot of teams in Washington state have this many kids that can play at the NCAA level,” said O’Hearn. “It’s just a matter of getting them exposure and their willingness to travel out of state to attend school.”

Among those that will play at the Division I level, Mahony will join a Yale midfield unit that helped the Bulldogs advance to the first round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament following a second-place Ivy League finish and a 4-2 conference record (11-5 overall).

As an Islander sophomore last spring, he scored 22 goals, tallied an assist and grabbed 54 ground balls in 14 regular-season games for MI.

Following graduation this spring, Reisman will step into a midfield role at St. Johns. In 2012, the Red Storm finished with a 3-3 BIG EAST Conference record (8-7 overall). As a junior last spring, Reisman finished the regular high school season in Washington state with 20 goals, six assists and 43 ground balls.

Marquette commit Priesler, who as an Islander senior this spring is expected to play a key role at attack, will join a Golden Eagles squad that is in its first year of NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse play on the Milwaukee, Wis. campus. Priesler finished the 2012 high school regular season at MI with 27 goals, 20 assists and a single ground ball.

Neither Rorem or Powell saw varsity action for the Islander boys in 2012.

For the girls, Sherper finished the regular season with 54 goals, 15 assists and 17 ground balls, while Snethen had 19 goals, five assists and 11 ground balls.

After winning the 2011 Washington Lacrosse State Championship, the Islander boys finished 14-6-0 during the 2012 regular season and 2-1-0 in the post season before falling to rival and eventual state champion Bellevue High School in the Division I semifinals.

The Islander girls won their conference in 2012 with a 9-3-1 record before falling to eventual state champion Bainbridge High School in the state semifinals.  They have been to the state title game twice, winning the Division II crown in 2009.

Historically, over 100 student-athletes from Washington state high schools have gone on to play lacrosse at the NCAA level with another 100 playing for college clubs. A historical list of student-athletes from state high schools that have played at the collegiate level is available at http://www.washingtonhslax.com/media-center/local-collegians/

Fittingly just in time for the Reporter’s winter sports previews this week, the Washington Wrestling Report released it’s pre-season rankings on Nov. 24.

As a team in the 3A classification, Mercer Island is ranked No. 16 with returning state champions Enumclaw ranked No. 1.

Everett, which Mercer Island will compete against on Dec. 4 is ranked at No. 15, just one spot ahead of the Islanders.

To see the full rankings, visit the Washington Wrestling Report website.

The winter sports previews will be out on Wednesday, in both print and online.

Here’s a look at the Mercer Island team schedules for those team participating in state tournaments this week.

Boys water polo

The Islanders will begin the state tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 7 and will play it’s first game against Bainbridge at 3 p.m. in the opening round. The team when will play Auburn Riverside at 7:40 p.m. that night. Both games will take place at the Rogers High School pool.

If Mercer Island wins both games or loses one they will move into the single elimination round on Friday at Curtis High School’s pool. Two loses on Wednesday would end the Islanders season.

Should Mercer Island win one or two games Nov. 7 the team will play at either 3 p.m. (two wins) or 4:10 p.m. (one win) in the state quarterfinals.

The final rounds of the tournament will take place on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Curtis High School’s pool.

Volleyball

The volleyball 3A state tournament begins on Friday, Nov. 9. The Islanders will play the first game at 8 a.m. on Friday against Prairie. The state tournament takes place at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash. and Timberline High School.

During the tournament, games on courts 1-3 will be played at St. Martin’s while courts 4 and 5 are located at Timberline High School.

Girls swim and dive

The Mercer Island girls swim and dive team will head south on Friday to defend their 3A state title. The meet begins Friday, Nov. 9 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way with warms up for 3A beginning at 1:30 p.m. and the meet begins at 2:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Nov. 10 the 3A swim finals begin with warm ups at 1:30 p.m. and the finals meet starts at 2:30 p.m.

Girls soccer

The MIHS girls soccer team plays Kamiakin in Kennewick on Tuesday night. The winner moves on to the quarterfinals, and will play the winner of the Enumclaw vs. Mount Spokane game by Nov. 10.

Updates on the various tournaments will be make throughout the weekend. Follow MIRsports on Twitter to get the latest news.