THE LACROSSE ASSOCIATION OF KANSAS

The Team to Beat: Olathe

The defending state champion Hawks enter the season on a 14-game overall winning streak and a 15-game winning streak against in-state competition. Olathe graduated six seniors, including one first-team All-State selection, but the Hawks have a lot coming back. Olathe returns six starters, including two on attack, two first-line middies, one defenseman and a standout goalie. In all, the Hawks have six returning players who garnered some sort of All-State honors in 2009.

This year’s team will be led by senior attackman Trevor Ecton, who was named WSL Kansas Boys Player of the Year last season. He will be joined by a fellow first-team All-State selection in senior goalie Cody Leach.

Returning second-team All-State picks include senior attackman Logan Smith and senior long-stick middie Ryan Albright, and junior middie Brett Wilson and senior defenseman Sam Mahoney were honorable-mention selections. Senior face-off middie Craig Cunningham will not be coming back, however, because he plans to focus on his studies. Cunningham was a second-team All-State pick in 2009.

Contenders: Shawnee Mission East, Blue Valley West

Shawnee Mission East, which graduated eight seniors and brings back five starters, had a breakthrough season last year in which it improved its win total by 10 games and gave Olathe all it could handle in the state final. This year’s team has a lot coming back as well, with five players returning who garnered postseason honors. Junior Burke Smith actually was a first-team All-State pick in two positions, first as a defenseman and also as a long-stick middie.

Smith will be joined by fellow first-team All-State pick Clancy Merrill, a senior face-off middie and attackman, who is also a standout football player. Junior middie Pat McGannon garnered second-team honors last season, and senior middie Max Sweet and senior goalie Danny Thompson each were honorable mentions.

Blue Valley West graduated its two first-team and one of its second-team All-State players. But the Jaguars still has some juice left in the tank. Junior attackman Bryce McNeely is Blue Valley West’s top returning player, and he’ll get help from junior goalie Cameron Johnson, junior attackman John Tierney and junior middie Steven Ritter.

Sleeper: St. Thomas Aquinas

The Saints graduated 10 seniors off last year’s team, and they anticipate bringing back four starters, including two on attack, one on defense and their goalie. The good news is St. Thomas Aquinas’ top players are all underclassmen, so the future looks bright. Junior goalie Chris Gochis, junior attackman Jake Weller, sophomore attackman Scott Davis, junior defenseman Jake Wernel and junior middie Alex Chartrand will comprise the backbone of the team.

Top Players: Ryan Albright, LSM, Olathe; Alex Chartrand, MF, St. Thomas Aquinas; Trevor Ecton, Att., Olathe (Mesa State); Jack Esberg, MF, Shawnee Mission East; Scott Davis, Att., St. Thomas Aquinas; Chris Gochis, G, St. Thomas Aquinas; Cameron Johnson, G, Blue Valley West; Cody Leach, G, Olathe; Sam Mahoney, Def., Olathe; Clancy Merrill, MF, Shawnee Mission East; Pat McGannon, MF, Shawnee Mission East; Bryce McNeely, Att., Blue Valley West; Steven Ritter, MF, Blue Valley West; Burke Smith, Def.-LSM, Shawnee Mission East; Logan Smith, Att., Olathe; Max Sweet, MF, Shawnee Mission East; Danny Thompson, G, Shawnee Mission East; John Tierney, Att., Blue Valley West; Jake Weller, Att., St. Thomas Aquinas; Jake Wernel, Def., St. Thomas Aquinas; Brett Wilson, MF, Olathe.

Preseason Top 5: 1. Olathe, 2. Shawnee Mission East, 3. Blue Valley West, 4. St. Thomas Aquinas, 5. Shawnee Mission South.

Notes: The Lacrosse Association of Kansas has contracted from seven varsity programs to five for 2010, but the good news is that situation will be temporary. Leavenworth Country Day and Blue Valley North will only field a JV teams this season, with the intention of coming up to varsity in 2011. Wichita has left the state to join the new Tornado Alley Lacrosse League, which will have four varsity programs from five states: Wichita, Tulsa, Edmund and Northwest Arkansas.