MAJOR SPORTS
Lacrosse teams make history with first conference-affiliated games in state Fast-paced game is similar to stickball played by the Choctaw Indians. BY NELL LUTER FLOYD
T
he face masks went on and the lacrosse sticks saw action earlier this year as Millsaps College became the first college or university in Mississippi to play women’s and men’s conference-affiliated intercollegiate lacrosse games. The inaugural season was one of ups and downs, but Tracy Cepnio, women’s lacrosse coach at Millsaps, said she was pleased by the team’s progress, considering that half of the team had never played lacrosse. “The thing about the first game that surprised me was how composed the team was and how much the team members had learned in preseason play, how ready they were to play and hang in there against the opponent,” she said. Cepnio said she taught basics of the sport by relating it to sports familiar to team members. “You take it one step at a time. You relate it to soccer for the ones who have played soccer. We had one member of the Millsaps volleyball team, two members of the Millsaps soccer team, and some students who had played sports in high school join the team.” Just how do you teach someone to play with the sticks? “You teach them to throw and catch by thinking of the ball as a baseball—only you throw and catch with a stick. You want to consider the stick as an extension of your arm when you’re throwing,” Cepnio said. The inaugural season of the Millsaps women’s lacrosse team saw three players named to the Second Team All-SCAC. The Majors got two defenders on the list in senior Leah Bright and sophomore Victoria Wheeler. Bright had 28 ground balls and 15 draw controls on the season. She also managed a goal in defense. Wheeler added 18 grounders in her 14 starts on a Major defense that spent much of its season fighting off aggressive, more experienced, offenses. Freshman midfielder Haleigh Williams led the Majors’ offense this season with 31 goals after playing and starting in all 14 games. The Houston native posted a .596 shooting percent-
age, had 43 shots on-goal (.827 percentage) and had the gamewinning goal in overtime against Agnes Scott. The 14-member team has 10 returning players and will have freshmen players from Maryland, Connecticut, Georgia, Colorado, Alabama, and Louisiana. Members of the 2011 team who were experienced players were from Colorado, Texas, and North Carolina. The first men’s lacrosse match as a conference-affiliated intercollegiate sport marked the beginning of the sport at Millsaps, said Luke Beam, men’s lacrosse coach at Millsaps. The women at Millsaps had had a lacrosse club team, but the men’s club team never evolved beyond a discussion, he said. “Our first season was obviously tough in the win-loss column (0-12),” he said, “but it was great to be a part of a group of guys who wanted to build something and create tradition. We had guys on the team who were excited about the College and what lacrosse means.” The men’s team was composed of about 17 players, most of whom had played lacrosse. The team lost only two seniors, who graduated. Men’s lacrosse is not the same as women’s lacrosse, Beam said. Helmets are required for all the players on a men’s team, whereas only the goalies on a women’s team wear helmets. “In a men’s game that ball is coming at you 80 or 90 miles an hour, and it’s not a soft ball. The guys get hit a lot,” Beam said. Lacrosse is a fast-paced, high-intensity sport, Beam said. “It’s the oldest sport in American history dating back to the Native Americans. The old version of the sport has been in our backyard forever; the Choctaws call it stickball. What a great sport to bring home to Mississippi.”
Millsaps Magazine | Summer 2011
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