The co-op girls lacrosse (LAX) team, consisting of students from Whitefish Bay, Nicolet, Grafton, Dominican and Shorewood, has worked to improve their gameday approach as they prepare to take on the WIAA conference championship and playoff games. With a record of 13-6, they are seeded as first in their conference this year.
Although ranked first this season, the team has had to navigate changes that came with the departure of the graduating class of 2023 and working with the new freshman players. Senior Adelais Burkholder, one of three captains, has stepped up in leading the team as she approaches the end of her high school career and reflects on her lacrosse journey.
When looking at the team this year, the team’s upperclassmen are crucial leaders for the younger members. Burkholder acknowledges that through her focus on the mental aspect of the game.
“With such a young team, it was a lot of figuring out the mental side of the game, which is what we’re still kind of dealing with,” Burkholder said. “We have a lot of talent, but we’re still just trying to organize ourselves and feel confident. And that’s kind of been my role, just being a hype person for everyone on the team because the talent is there. It’s just getting everyone to the mental space to perform their best.”
Since the girls lacrosse team is made up of five schools across the north shore they don’t get to spend much time around each outside of practices and games. However, according to Burkholder, this hasn’t impacted the team’s success as they find ways to bond and grow their relationships.
“Although we don’t see each other outside of school, I think we have a really good team dynamic and everyone’s really close,” Burkholder said. “There’s a lot of trust that’s been built and I think it’s going to continue to be a really good team dynamic as the current underclassmen get older and more talented.”
Savannah Rauen, freshman, is an underclassmen that has already built her way up to varsity lacrosse.
“It was definitely scary at first because I didn’t really know anybody on the team, but once I had gone to a few practices and team bonding things, I got to know a lot of people pretty quickly,” Rauen said. “It was definitely easier bonding with the Shorewood girls at first since I saw them at school, but [I] also bonded with the other girls as the season progressed.”
Generally sports can be a time consuming activity, especially when having to balance academics and the pressure of exceeding in one’s sport.
“You have to figure out what you want to prioritize…I always take a free period in the spring so I can do homework during then, because after school it’s just lacrosse for me,” Burkholder said. “It’s a delicate balance, you just have to find the little pieces of spare time to get everything done.”
Burkholder is currently committed to the University of Oglethorpe in Atlanta, Georgia. There, she will play lacrosse collegiately along with majoring in physics, business economics and mechanical engineering.
Maddie Kohler, a junior from Shorewood High School, who has been playing lacrosse for seven years, also has taken on a large leadership role as a defender on the varsity team.
“I feel like being an upperclassman this year has helped me step up as a leader,” Kohler said. “Trying to lead for the underclassmen and help them learn their way on the team.”
Although the unusual team dynamic hasn’t taken a toll on the team’s success, they have had to navigate this season with the drastic changes that came with losing last year’s seniors.
“We lost our top scorer,” Kohler said. “So, it’s been a learning obstacle to rearrange our attack.”
Kohler hopes to work on her skill and progress as a team in these last two seasons of her high school career.
Rauen agrees that the team dynamic, although atypical, has been a crucial part of success.
“We do a lot of team bonding and stuff like that after practices and before games,” Rauen said. “So, even though we don’t see each other everyday, everybody still knows each other pretty well and are all super nice.”