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Health & Fitness

Eight Ripsharks Earn All-Conference Honors, Say Farewell to 11 Seniors

The Lakeshore Ripsharks high school lacrosse team finished the 2013 campaign with a 13-6 record and ranked 11th in the state.  Unfortunately, in the powerhouse Classic 8 conference, that was only good enough for 5th place, as Marquette, Arrowhead, Kettle Moraine and Waukesha all finished the season in the top 10.

With the stiff competition, the Ripsharks were still able to land eight players on the all-conference list, though none of them were selected for higher honors than honorable mention.

Seniors, Dakota Kwasny and Luke Zoromski each landed honors for the third straight year.  Kwasny earned honors for the first time as an attackman after previous seasons as a midfielder.  Zoromski earned honors for the third consecutive year as a defenseman. 

Junior, Quinten Ziegler earned his a spot on the list for the second time as a midfielder.  Unfortunately for both Ziegler and Zoromski, though both could make a very strong case for higher honors, the voting went heavily to the top 10 teams.

Earning well-deserved honors for their first time are, senior Dan Wheeler and junior Max Woody as midfielders, senior Alec Monaghan at defense, junior Riley Liegel at long-stick midfielder and senior Quinn Mooney at goalie. 

As this is the fourth year that the Lakeshore co-op has been in existence, the senior class that the Ripsharks say farewell to this year are the first to be a part of the program since they were freshmen.

The initial freshman class, and this year's seniors are:

#4 - Evan Heimerl - Homestead:  Evan was a member of the original freshman class, which was also his first year playing lacrosse.  Evan decided to give the sport a try because he was looking for a spring sport and had heard lacrosse was similar to hockey, which he had been playing for many years.  "His contributions to the team as an attackman were great as he showed strong work ethic and he continued to improve each year." according to coach Gough.  Evan considers his sophomore year to be a highlight for him as he had great skill development and there was great team chemistry.  Evan wants to thank everyone who has supported the team.  Evan will attend Bradley University and hopes to start a club lacrosse program while there.

#13 - Dan Wheeler - Nicolet:  Dan began playing lacrosse in Atlanta nine years ago, simply because he saw older kids playing it.  Dan became a Ripshark after moving to the area his sophomore year.  After losing his entire junior year to a torn ACL, Dan came back strong, scoring on 70% of his shots and according to coach Gough, "was a one-man clear" when the team needed to get the ball upfield.  Dan considers the team outing to the Duke / Marquette game to be a highlight because they were able to watch the eventual NCAA champion and it was great for team bonding.  Dan will attend Purdue University, study in a technology field and play on the club lacrosse team.  Dan hopes to come home in the next few years and watch the Ripsharks play in the State Finals.  Dan was an honorable mention all-conference midfielder this season.

#16 - Patchen Tews - Whitefish Bay:  Patchen started playing lacrosse as a junior and has only played for the Ripsharks varsity.  He picked up the sport because his close friends Quinn Mooney, Kelly Jackson and Andrew Riedy all played and got him into it.  According to coach Gough, "Patchen showed great improvement for a new player" and "added speed to his aggressive play, which allowed him to play on the defensive side of the ball."  Among his highlights, Patchen lists "Hanging with my bros" and "beating Kettle Moraine in the playoffs without Anders (Bjella) my junior year."  Patchen will attend UWM next year and intends to major in "something with writing and English" and offers this advice; "Just rip it!"

#18 - Luke Zoromski - Cedarburg:  Luke has been a 4 year varsity player and a Ripsharks co-captain this year, after being convinced by Dakota Kwasny to give the sport a try six years ago.  Coach Gough describes Luke as "a solid defenseman with size and speed" who "always drew the opponents top attackman."  One of Luke's favorite lacrosse memories came his sophomore year when Lakeshore upset #3 ranked Kettle Moraine on a terribly cold and windy night at Nicolet.  Luke carries a 3.95 GPA and will attend UW where he will major in engineering and hopes to play on the club lacrosse team.  Luke was an all-conference LSM his sophomore and junior seasons as well as this season at his natural position of "close" defence.

#21 - Connor Beam - Whitefish Bay:  Connor was another member of the original Lakeshore Ripsharks freshman class.  According to coach, "his speed helped him play the midfield position well and was strong clearing the ball.  Connor showed great improvement over the four years he played for Lakeshore."  Connor will attend Loyola University in Chicago and he hopes to continue playing lacrosse.

#31 - Dakota Kwasny - Port Washington:  Dakota became interested in lacrosse by watching games during the Indian Summer Festival at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee and began playing for Northshore when he was in 6th grade.  Dakota has been a four year varsity player and a co-captain as a senior.  Coach Gough describes him as "a natural midfielder with good faceoff skills" who "unselfishly switched from midfield to attack this year to fill a need for the team.  Dakota led the team in points and goals and was 3rd in the team with 40 ground balls."  Dakota says his biggest highlight was beating Kettle Moraine 5-4 playoffs his junior year.  Next year Dakota will attend Hanover College where he will play DIII lacrosse.  While he has considered majoring in several things including pre-med / kineseology / sports medicine and history / political science / education, he is officially undecided at this time.  Dakota earned all-conference honors as a short-stick specialist as a sophomore, a midfielder as a junior and as an attackman as a senior.  Dakota said that he "has never been on any team, in any sport, where the comradarie was so strong and everyone got along so well."

#33 - Joey Mullins - Homestead:  Joey picked up the sport three years ago and has only played for Lakeshore.  He started playing after a friend convinced him to give it a try.  He actually almost gave the sport up before his first tryouts his sophomore year but is very happy he stuck with it.  According to coach Gough, Joey was asked to switch positions several times to fill needs of the team.  Coach appreciated "Joey's flexibility and cooperation during all of the position changes."  Joey describes a game against Wauwatosa this season as his highlight game.  Specifically he cites a "pancake" hit near midfield where he created a "yard sale."  (Stick, ball and occassionally, gloves, go flying is all directions)  Joey wants to thank all of his coaches and teammates who accepted him and welcomed him into the Ripshark family.  Joey will attend Iowa State next year and hopes to make the club lacrosse team.

#35 - Quinn Mooney - Whitefish Bay:  Quinn was a four year Ripsharks varsity player, including the last three as the starting goalie.  Quinn began playing lacrosse as a 7th grader after giving it a try with a cousin who had been playing for many years.  Coach Gough describes Quinn as "the field general" who "has changed the momentum of several games with his ability to make clutch saves!" As a senior co-captain, Quinn had a very good 60% save percentage and was rewarded with all-conference honors.  Quinn's favorite memory is knocking Kettle Moraine out of the playoffs his junior year.  Quinn will attend West Virginia University where he intends to study business-finance and potentially play club lacrosse.

#50 - Kelly Jackson - Whitefish Bay:  Though Kelly lost the entire 2013 lacrosse season to a broken hand, Kelly's teammates still voted him honorary captain.  Coach Gough describes Kelly as "a force on defense the prior two seasons."  Kelly will attend Regis University in Denver and will play club lacrosse.

#62 - Ryan Jacobus - Shorewood:  Ryan began playing lacrosse in 2010 in Park City, UT after he saw how much his younger brothers enjoyed playing.  Ryan played a single season with the Ripsharks after moving to the area.  Coach wishes "Ryan had another couple of years to play; he worked hard and was a dedicated teammate."  Ryan's favorite memories are "when Patchen scored a goal, Hunter Crizer decked a kid and when Quinn went out for starting lineups carrying a glove and a shoe."  Ryan will attend Montana State University in Bozeman and will major in Cell Biology and Neuroscience.

#77 - Alec Monaghan - Whitefish Bay:    Alec has only been playing lacrosse for two years and switched position from LSM to close defense due to injury this year.  His hard work paid off and he earned honorable mention all-conference recognition.   Coach Gough praised Alec for his "very hard work" and "great improvement."  Alec "did an outstanding job handling his responsibilities with limited experience at his position."  He will attend Iowa University in the Fall.

The 2013 Ripsharks team had no stars for eveyone to lean on.  They had players shift away from their natural positions to fill needs for the benefit of the team.   They played in the toughest conference in the state and 9 of their 19 games were played against top 15 teams in the state.  They didn't achieve their goal of a state title but came out with 13 wins and all the players mention nothing but the great comraderie, unity and family feel.  Those statements speak volumes for the coaching staff of Tom Gough, Terry Combs and Morgan Tremper. 

It seems that the only appropriate way to close would be to borrow a phrase that was mentioned repeatedly by the Lakeshore players:

Ripshark Nation!

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