As spring sports come to a close, the girl’s lacrosse season was one to remember. They three-peated as conference champs and ended the season ranked number nine in the state. Despite ending with a tough loss to the defending state champs East Grand Rapids, this historical season will not be forgotten by many.
The wildcats went undefeated in the regular season finishing 17-0. They were the only undefeated team in the state in both boys and girls lacrosse before they fell to the Pioneers. They also won the OK Tier 2 conference for the third straight year.
Assistant coach Nikki Herrmann attributes the team’s success to their unselfishness. A motto the team had was “interchangeable parts,” which means the team works as one and any spot on the field can be replaced by another player. The team also depended on their captains who have received recognition for their positive influence.
“We were strong in so many ways and for so many different reasons. However, our leadership this year was top-notch. They led us through a lot and were always there to lend a helping hand or support their teammates,” Herrmann said. “We succeeded as a team because we all worked as one.”
One of the major successes of the girls season was beating Grand Haven, Grand Rapids Christian and Grandville. Though these may just look like casual wins to an outsider, in the history of Northview women’s lacrosse, this had never been done.
Many athletes on the team received awards such as all-conference and all-state. Senior Lauren Walsh was named all-state for Division 2 in Michigan. Juniors Ashley and Cassidy Sanders were all-state honorable mention. Walsh, Ashley and Cassidy also received OK tier two all-conference alongside senior Kieran Yanik, junior Kaylee Jangda and freshman Taylor McCullough. Seniors Kate Nuffer, Emily Camp, and freshman Maddee Teunis received all-conference honorable mention.
Herrmann has seen the varsity team’s success inspire the younger program as well. This year saw the middle school program bloom. A combined grade five through eight team was separated into a grade five and six, and a grade seven and eight team due to boosted numbers. The program now looks to extend down to the third and fourth-grade levels.
“Our younger program is growing like crazy,” Herrmann said. “I contribute a lot of that to our varsity girls being great leaders and supporters. We even have incoming high schoolers that are wanting to improve so they can mesh well with our girls. I think the varsity just being present is so important.”
Junior Joelle Henke saw the effect their achievements had on the community. The word began to spread of their success causing a lot of interest within the district. The stands began to fill up at the home games and the team had seen one of their biggest crowds at their final game at memorial field in EGR.
“It felt really good because as a girl in sports, you don’t really get a lot of support from your school or community itself,” Henke said. “So seeing my school and my classmates come up to me every day and ask me about lacrosse felt really rewarding.”
Although Jandga is a junior and has only one year remaining with Northview, she has many aspirations for the team in the upcoming years.
“I hope our team continues to win the conference, gain the respect we deserve, grow the program, [and] end up winning regionals or even states,” Jandga said. “I think we can win more than just conference.”
The team’s aspirations are high for the upcoming seasons. Although a one loss season is hard to improve on they plan to keep up their hard work to make a further run in playoffs.
The girls pose for a photo after officially winning conference for the third year in a row. The girls beat West Ottawa on May 13th 19 to 1.