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WSL Releases First Girls Elite 25 Power Rankings

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West Side Lax, today, is releasing its first-ever WSL Elite 25 Girls Individual Power Rankings. This list was put together by the WSL Editorial Staff, and it is comprised of the best seniors in the Western United States.

In all, 37 senior female lacrosse players from West of the Mississippi River have so far signed a national letter of intent or verbally committed to play NCAA Division I lacrosse starting in 2010. The first No. 1-ranked female player in the West is Cherry Creek senior middie McKenzie Brown, who was named WSL Colorado Girls Player of the Year as a junior.

The inaugural No. 2-ranked female in the West is Hockaday School senior middie Taylor Thornton, who was named WSL Texas Girls Player of the Year as a junior.

The complete list is below.

SENIORS

1. McKenzie Brown
Position: Middie
High School: Cherry Creek
State: Colorado
College Selection: Notre Dame

2. Taylor Thornton
Position: Middie
High School: Hockaday School
State: Texas
College Selection: Northwestern

3. Jackie Candelaria
Position: Middie
High School: La Costa Canyon
State: Caliornia
College Selection: Stanford

4. Kelly Lang
Position: Middie
High School: St. Ignatius Prep
State: California
College Selection: Cornell

5. Alex Befus
Position: Middie
High School: Air Academy
State: Colorado
College Selection: Denver

6. Liz Datino
Position: Middie
High School: Heritage/Littleton
State: Colorado
College Selection: UC Davis

7. Michelle Tremblay
Position: Attack
High School: Blake School
State: Minnesota
College Selection: Notre Dame

8. Caz-Marie Norwich
Position: Attack
High School: Eden Prairie
State: Minnesota
College Selection: Syracuse

9. Francie Crowell
Position: Attack
High School: Los Alamitos
State: California
College Selection: Notre Dame

10. Katie Whisenhunt
Position: Middie
High School: California
State: California
College Selection: Sonoma State

11. Caroline Mahony
Position: Middie
High School: Mercer Island
State: Washington
College Selection: St. Mary’s

12. Hannah Clarke
Position: Middie
High School: St. John’s
State: Texas
College Selection: William and Mary

13. Ana Cyr
Position: Middie
High School: Granada
State: California
College Selection: UC Berkeley

14. Chelsea Cyester
Position: Middie
High School: Chaparral
State: Colorado
College Selection: New Hampshire

15. Mackenzie Gloven
Position: Middie-Attack
High School: La Jolla
State: California
College Selection: Columbia

16. Melissa Humphrey
Position: Middie
High School: Coronado
State: California
College Selection: UC Berkeley

17. Ali Ellickson
Position: Middie
High School: Cherry Creek
State: Colorado
College Selection: UC Berkeley

18. Kelly McCarthy
Position: Goalie
High School: Cathedral Catholic
State: California
College Selection: UC Berkeley

19. Laura Aeschbacher
Position: Middie-Defense
High School: Cherry Creek
State: Colorado
College Selection: Duquesne

20. Meredith Dunn
Position: Middie
High School: Regis Jesuit
State: Colorado
College Selection: Duquesne

21. Gina Holslag
Position: Attack
High School: Scripps Ranch
State: California
College Selection: UC Berkeley

22. Victoria Maxon
Position: Middie-Defense
High School: Holy Names Academy
State: Washington
College Selection: Lafayette

23. Natalie Harrington
Position: Middie
High School: Oregon City
State: Oregon
College Selection: Fresno State

24. Caitlyn O’Brien
Position: Middie
High School: Desert Mountain
State: Arizona
College Selection: George Washington

25. Jordan Weber
Position: Middie
High School: Ursuline Academy
State: Missouri
College Selection: Undecided

Honorable Mentions

Cassie Brunelle, Middie, Bishop Kelly (ID), St. Mary’s
Anna-Marie Carabini, Attack-Middie, St. Margaret’s Episcopal (CA), St. Mary’s
Molly Carstensen, Middie-Attack, Mullen (CO), UC Davis
Molly Crawford, Middie, Notre Dame de Sion (KS), UC Berkeley
Taylor Fiehler, Middie, Valley Center (CA), Fresno State
Alexandria Garcia, Middie, Judge Memorial (UT), Undecided
Celita Gorman, Middie-Defense, The Woodlands (TX), Jacksonville
Kacie Lewis, Middie, Granite Hills (CA), Connecticut
Natalie Loutchaninoff, Attack, Cy-Fair (TX), Mount St. Mary’s
Natasha Markham, Middie-Attack, Tesoro (CA), UC Davis
Alanna Parker, Middie, Spring Valley Monte Vista (CA), Davidson
Sara Weber, Middie, Tesoro (CA), Fresno State
Cascade Zak, Middie, Cate School (CA), Northwestern

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Why no Poway girls?

Submitted by General Laximus on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 17:20.

 Its one of the strongest problems out there and they couldn't field one girl for the list?

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Just thought you might like

Submitted by laxfan444 on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 16:30.

Just thought you might like to know that Cascade Zak is NOT a recruit for Northwestern. She did, however, get into the school.  

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Natasha & Sara

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 22:21.
YAY!! That is soo amazing!! You guys are ranked! WOW and I know you! That is complete crazyness! I love you both and congrats!! ---Ali H
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Well done

Submitted by laxivation on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 17:53.
Pretty nice list of impressive players. This should spark some interesting conversations. Remember that everyone thinks their little baby is an all-american!! Kudos to you for taking the first step and getting these kids the recognition they deserve.
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Top 25 players

Submitted by Coach12345 on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 08:58.
Not having Hayley Bernstein from Air Academy (Colorado Springs, CO) on this list in the top 10 totally discredits this list. Datino is considerably higher than she should be.
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Harsh

Submitted by laxivation on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 17:55.
Way to completely ruin the experience for all of these girls by a short sighted and moronic comment. Now go tuck Hayley in and get to bed.
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Short sighted?

Submitted by Coach12345 on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 06:40.
Are you one of those people that think "everyone" should get a trophy? My comment was not to "ruin the experience" but to emphasis someone's missing from this list....therefore, I don't think enough research was done to truly validate this list.
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The Way the List is Made

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 13:09.
If she doesn't play for a Starz team or one of the other expensive teams that go to the Cali tournaments there's probably no way she could have made it to this list. There wasn't much research done apart from those tournys. So don't take this list too seriously.
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I know several players on

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/26/2009 - 16:28.
I know several players on this list who never attended any "starz" or cali tournaments and Haley B gets too much credit because she is an average player on a sucky team which makes her appear better she has the stats of a good player because her team only allows her or Alex B to handle the ball.
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And lets view the facts again....

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 17:11.
First, unless you are someone from Creek, I don't understand why you are commenting, specifically the description "Sucky" towards AA. And I'd think that you weren't as, they usually let thier play dictate the facts. So, her goes. In AA's 3 most important games last year, without AB due to injury, HB had 16 points, AMc had 12 points, and JO had 10 points. Hardly "her team only allows her or Alex B to handle the ball." Take your time...think before you type. Due a little research....heck...maybe even ask for help. ...and sign your name.
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hahaha...

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/26/2009 - 20:05.

I actually laughed out loud when I read that comment. What are you trying to say about Colorado lacrosse if the team that wound up third in the state is "sucky"?

If you look at last year's stats, several players had a multitude of goals... yes Hayley (notice the second y in there...) had an exceptional amount, but it wasn't because she was the only one allowed to handle the ball... She just happens to have worked hard at the sport and developed quite the knack for putting the ball in the back of the net. I'm assuming she did it several times against your team to provoke such a bitter attitude.

Get over yourself. Stop sitting on this blog and complaining about other people that are better than you at lacrosse and go play some wall ball.

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That is a ridiculous and

Submitted by nate on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 18:37.
That is a ridiculous and completely untrue statement. Every player on this list either a) Has verbally committed or signed a national letter of intent to play NCAA Division I lacrosse or b) was selected as a U.S. Lacrosse First-Team All-American. Some both.

There are several players on this list who have never played for a Starz team or participated in a California tournament, and every one of them deserves to be on here.

Nathan Max
Executive Editor
WestSideLax.com

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Westsidelax

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/28/2009 - 20:03.
Westsidelax seems to have an unhealthy obsession with D1 schools, as evidenced by this list. Some of the best players, (yes, All-Americans, yes multiple-year First Team All-State players) on the west coast are missing from this list. Probably because they either a) have not commited to a school yet, or b) have no desire to play D1 lacrosse.
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That is a ridiculous and

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/28/2009 - 16:20.
That being said..... Still haven't figured out how you ranked these kids. All you have to do is google most of these kids and you can see who belongs where. I do have to say some of the Texas girls are somewhat misplaced in this list. Some seem to be ranked based on whom their current HS coach is or knows. You said some are AA or signed to play DI or both.... well, you have a few in the top 25 that only have one of those honors and a few in the honorable mention section that have both and continue to achieve. More criteria needs to be considered in this ranking.
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Congratulations Taylor

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 17:02.
Congratulations Taylor Thornton! This is so well deserved. It has been a pleasure to watch you excel not only in athletics, but also as Student Body President and an honors student at one of the top schools in Texas. Now go help Northwestern to win another National Championship -they are truly gaining a winner! V. Ashford
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Kelly Lang at SI is the real

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 12:06.
Kelly Lang at SI is the real deal. Katie Whisenhunt (Cal High) and Ana Cyr (Granada) are overrated. Granada has yet to win an EBAL league game despite 3 D 1 recruits, and are projected to finish 7th in 8-team league. Granada scored 5 goals against Monte Vista with 14, mostly while the MV second string was subbed in. Ana Cyr was scoreless. Foothill beat Granada 12-2. Monte Vista beat Katie’s Cal high 15 to 7. Cal is struggling in EBAL. Jillian Bush had 5 goals against Granada and 7 against Cal, equaling the total for Granada and Cal. MV’s Lauren Goerz is especially talented. Foothill (Saxton) and SRV (Esteban, Bowles) have strong talent, as does Carondelet (Bailey). There are 10 EBAL players that are better lacrosse athletes than those 2 named above. This is evident to anyone watching them compete. Ratings are not easy, but pay attention to the scoreboard. Over time, the scoreboard does not lie. Not nice, but true.
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Do your research...

Submitted by laxfan12 on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 15:31.

 Your comment was both unnecessary and flawed. You obviously do not follow EBAL because you would know that Katie is not playing due to injury (hmm maybe thats why they lost to MV??). Cal is definitely not struggling in EBAL (2nd place is struggling?). They barely lost to SRV the first time they played them. I am more familiar with Cal, MV, and SRV so I cannot comment on Cyr. Your comment was not nice, but it was also not true. Do some research.

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See what you will

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/01/2009 - 21:01.
This last post is full of flaws. The rankings were for seniors. Goerz, Saxton and Estaban are juniors (2010), talented yes, but not seniors. Bush wasn't mentioned because she was injured a large portion of last year. You are basing your opinion on a couple of games, not what these players have done. FYI Ana Cyr has led EBAL in goals for the past two years, and as of November's NLI signing was the only Norcal player recuited. Bailey is a tank, but just wasn't seen in years past. The scoreboard doesn't lie, but obviously the one that you look at has been seen from a very limited perspective.
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Either way...

Submitted by Walaxer on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 18:17.

Girls lacrosse is a joke unless your team is actually insane. The goalies are TERRIBLE, the shots are slower than they can sprint, and they cant catch or pass. The only difference between 'good' players is the speed and quickness.

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