Seven-team expansion for Washington state high school lacrosse

In Spokane, Gonzaga Prep and Lewis &Clark High School, along with combined programs at University-Ferris High Schools, and Mt. Spokane-Mead High Schools will begin Washington state play for the first time in 2013. Gonzaga Prep and University-Ferris have had established teams playing neighboring Idaho high schools throughout the past decade.

With the addition of the Inland Empire schools, a total of eight individual boys and girls Eastern Washington high school teams from Spokane, Wenatchee, Selah and Tri Cities will see prep lacrosse action in the spring.

In the Vancouver area, Camas High School and Union High School will also begin play this spring. The two boys teams join King’s Way High School along with a girl’s team at Evergreen High School to round-out lacrosse play in SW Washington.

Gig Harbor and Peninsula High Schools, which have fielded a combined boys varsity team since 2010, will elevate its girls junior varsity team to varsity play in 2013 to round-out the new additions.

“As a sport, we are thrilled with the acceptance of lacrosse in Spokane, Camas and Gig Harbor schools,” said Low. “As lacrosse continues its unprecedented growth at the youth and high school levels in Washington state, US Lacrosse is committed to working side-by-side with local schools to help them accommodate their students’ interest in playing the sport on campus,” he said.

Since 2010, US Lacrosse along with the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association and the Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association has facilitated the start-up of 23 new high school lacrosse teams (16 boys and seven girls) throughout Washington state, bringing the 2013 season total to 166 individual boys and girls high school teams. At the high school level, lacrosse has expanded at a double-digit average annual growth rate over the past decade with 4,000 student-athletes attending some 200 WIAA schools playing the sport.

In 2013, as a means to more accurately reflect the interest of high school students playing lacrosse for their school sponsored or school club teams, all boys high school teams in Washington state will directly reflect the name of the individual schools of their student-athletes. Girls teams representing multiple high schools will continue to be referenced by their club name.

The complete 2013 Washington State High School schedule for boys and girls lacrosse is available at www.WashingtonHSLAX.com

New in 2013 are schools playing boys lacrosse in Spokane and Vancouver, Washington.

In Spokane, Gonzaga Prep opens at home against Lewis &Clark High School on Wednesday, March 13 in a 7 p.m. start, while Mt. Spokane-Mead opens against Ferris-University on Thursday, March 14 in a 5 p.m. start at Mead High School.

Throughout the past decade, Gonzaga Prep has been a regular in the North Idaho Lacrosse League championship tournament making five title-game appearances since beginning play in 2003. The Bullpups have three NILL titles to their credit, most recently in 2011.

The Spokane schools will join the Division II Eastern Washington Conference that includes the Wenatchee High School program. Along with Selah and Richland High Schools, a total of eight high school lacrosse programs are now in place in Eastern Washington.

In Southwestern Washington, Camas and Union High Schools will begin Division II play in 2013. The two will join the Division II Central-South Conference along with Selah and Richland.

Union High School opens against Camas High School also on Wednesday, March 13 in a 5 p.m. start at Pacific Middle School in Vancouver, Wash.

Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association play gets underway on Monday, March 11 with Mercer Island taking on Garfield in an 8 p.m. start at Mercer Island High School, Overlake facing Forest Ridge in a 5 p.m. start at the Overlake School in Redmond, and Puyallup (Puyallup-Emerald Ridge High Schools) taking on Mukilteo (Kamiak High School) in Mukilteo.

State champion Bainbridge High School opens their 2013 girls varsity season against the Overlake School on Wednesday, March 13 with a 6:30 p.m. start at Bainbridge Stadium.

New in 2013 is a girls varsity program from Gig Harbor and Peninsula High Schools. Since 2010, the two have combined to field a boys team and in 2012 fielded a combined girls team at the junior varsity level.

The season concludes with the Washington Lacrosse Girls State Championship on Friday, May 17 at the Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish.

The Washington Lacrosse Boys State Championship in Division I and II takes place Saturday, June 1 at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.

About High School Lacrosse in Washington State

Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the US and in Washington state has experienced double-digit annual growth throughout the past decade. In its fourth decade of play, 166 individual boys and girls high school teams are now available to students attending nearly 200 WIAA schools across eastern and western Washington. Governed by the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association and the Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association, the sport is played during the spring season and capped by annual boys and girls state championships in late May. To learn more about lacrosse in Washington or to receive daily high school results visit www.WashingtonHSLAX.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter @WashingtonHSLAX. To learn more about the history, traditions and values of lacrosse, college opportunities available to students and the 21 US states now sanctioning high school lacrosse visit USLacrosse.org.

Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association – Varsity

Boys Division I

King East Conference

Eastlake High School

Issaquah High School

Skyline High School

Snohomish High School

Woodinville High School

King West Conference

Bellevue High School

Bothell-Inglemoor High Schools

Lake Washington High School

Mercer Island High School

Sammamish-Newport High Schools

Metro Conference

Bainbridge High School

Bellarmine Preparatory School

Eastside Catholic School

Kamiak High School

Lakeside School

South Sound Conference

Auburn Riverside High School

Curtis High School

Emerald Ridge-Puyallup High School

King’s Way High School

Tahoma High School

Boys Division II

Skagit Conference

Burlington-Edison High School

Friday Harbor High School

Lynden High School

Providence Classical Christian School

Sehome-Ferndale High Schools

Cascade Conference

Everett High School

Meadowdale High School

Monroe High School

Shorecrest High School

Stanwood High School

KingCo Conference

Ballard High School

Garfield High School

Liberty High School

Mt. Si High School

Redmond High School

Roosevelt High School

Metro Conference

Blanchet High School

Highline High School

Kennedy Catholic High School

Nathan Hale High School

Overlake School

Seattle Preparatory Academy

Vashon High School

Olympic Conference

Klahowya Secondary School

North Kitsap High School

Peninsula-Gig Harbor High Schools

Port Angeles High School

South Kitsap High Schools

Stadium High School

Central-South Conference

Camas High School

Richland High School

Selah High School

Union High School

Eastern Conference

Ferris-University High Schools

Gonzaga Preparatory School

Mt. Spokane-Mead High Schools

Lewis &Clark High School

Wenatchee High School