If you see boys wearing Rocky Mountain High School gear around the school, do not worry… their Sabercat spirit is not extinct. These boys simply belong to the district wide lacrosse team. While currently known as Rocky Mountain Lacrosse, they will soon be switching to the Poudre School District Stars, like a number of other district teams.

This team welcomes players from all four district high schools, however, athletes from Fossil Ridge High School take up a large portion of their roster. With a very strong varsity team this year, they have been able to remain undefeated with an eight game winning streak, even after playing against several of the top teams in the state. 

The Head Coach, Will Cantwell, has been coaching the team for the past two seasons. Prior to coaching at Rocky, Cantwell was an assistant coach at Thompson Valley High School for five years before taking over as the Head Coach for an additional five years. After great success coaching for the 4A team including a number one ranking for two years, Cantwell took a year off from coaching.

Eve though Coach Cantwell has only been coaching the team for a couple of seasons, he has been impressed with the teams overall atmosphere. “I think it is a good group of young men, and they seem to really enjoy being around each other.” With the team being such a diverse group of kids from all four high schools and all grade levels, the coaches believe in having a unified team and for people to “put aside some of those old rivalries in other sports,” As seen in the success of the team, especially this year, the boys are able to stick together and work hard for a great season. 

Due to the fact that the game of lacrosse is not as publicized as some other sports in the district are, the teams have not received much support at their home or away games this season. The Rocky lacrosse team is made up of a large number of Fossil’s players and because of this, both players and coaches are hopeful that more people will come out to support the team. “It’s an exciting, fast, skilled game, and the more people we can get to come out and give, not only our team a chance, but the sport a chance, will encourage the dynamic as a whole,” explains Cantwell. 

As the team continues through the season, they hope that more people will come to support the team. The boys will be playing on Wednesday, April 20, at Rocky Mountain High School against Thompson Valley High School at 7:00 p.m.. Wish them good luck for the rest of their season.

Fossil Ridge High School does not have an individual lacrosse team. However, the Poudre School District Stars lacrosse team, formerly known as Rocky Mountain High School Lacrosse, represents lacrosse athletes from around the district and Front Range region.

The Head Coach, Pam Kramer, started the high school girls lacrosse team in 2017 after playing for most of her life. Kramer played for a Division III school in college and wanted to introduce a sport that has impacted her immensely to the Fort Collins area. “The love of lacrosse is the main goal, but the influence of previous coaches in my life and wanting to be a positive influence in these girls’ lives as well [is important]…It’s fun to watch a team create their own identity and work together and achieve whatever goals that they have set,” Kramer says regarding her decision to coach.

So far, the team is undefeated with a nine game win streak. The PSD Stars are in the 4A division compared to many of the district’s high school teams being in the 5A division. 

As for this season, Kramer explains the team roster is small, but full of very good players. With all the girls being from different schools, the only time they see each other is during practice and games. With this being said, the group prioritizes other modes of team bonding. “We did a scavenger hunt downtown, we go get ice cream, we’re going to do yoga…Things like that bring the team together,” Kramer says. 

Lacrosse is a sport that has surfaced more in the past couple of years and it is slowly gaining more traction. With it being newer to the area, the cost of the game is having few spectators. Kramer wishes people knew that it is quite a fun game to watch. “It’s fast. It’s high scoring. There’s a lot happening.” Many people may not know much about lacrosse, so going to a game is both an opportunity to learn the game and support the team.

As the team gets closer and closer to the end of the season, they will begin to have division games in their schedule. These division games are what may qualify the team for playoffs leading to the state championship. “Ultimately our goal for the year is to win the state title,” hopes Kramer.

We encourage everyone to set aside time to go to one of the lacrosse games to show your support for the PSD Stars. Their next game will be this Friday, April 22, on our very own Fossil turf field. The team will be playing Conifer High School, so  come show your support for the girls lacrosse team.