May 2, 2024 | SPORTS | By Nolan Diffley
The flowers are blooming, Tava Quad is green and a random snowstorm has come and gone: it’s spring at Colorado College. Almost all our athletes are done with their seasons and ready to jump into what Non-Athletic-Regular-People (NARPs) have been training for all year: the senior calendar. That is, except for the women’s lacrosse team, whose marathon of a season isn’t over quite yet.
“It’s nice because we all have the same priorities, everyone is dedicated to the sport,” says Olive Janerico ‘27.
This apparent dedication has paid off, as the team is currently ranked 25th in the NCAA, with their precarious chance at making the tournament being due to the unique position they occupy in their league.
“Because we just joined the league, we have to be voted in,” Janerico continues, “Basically, the more games we win, the higher our ranking, and the higher our ranking, the more likely we are to get those votes.”
Making it to the tournament would mean a lot to this team. Between the dedication of their senior class, the ambiguous position they occupy and of course, the sacrifices they’ve made, including an extended dry season; they have shown their commitment to do everything they can to make sure that chance has as little role as possible in their bid for the spot.
When asked about a month back about their chances at the tournament, the team said that their conference games would be a non-factor for them, and divine intervention would be the only explanation for CC Women’s Lacrosse. Losing a game within their league or any games that could catapult them forward were the two non-conference games that they had left.
This confidence doesn’t come unfounded. The team has steamrolled their league, having won every conference game averaging a whopping 18.3 point differential. There is no question about their dominance within the league, but sadly after losing two non-conference games this past weekend, with one of them being by just one goal scored in the last minute of the game, there is concern for their chance at a bid.
“We honestly shouldn’t have lost those… those games really would have really helped us,” says Janerico.
Despite these setbacks, the team isn’t backing down.
“Right now we just have to focus on what we can control,” says Janerico.
Still training hard despite a lower chance of making it to NCAAs, team morale and spirit seems to be up. While they’ve already won the regular season title, the teams first conference title since 2021, they still have the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament to play in for their final games before the votes come in.
Janerico ‘27 hopes that making the tournament this year will set a precedent for years to come saying, “I think it would really hold us to a higher standard in the future, especially since it will be so much easier in a few years,” referring to the fact that in two years, all they have to do is win their conference to be given a spot, something they did with ease this year.
With so much hanging in the balance, this team has stood remarkably strong, ready to do whatever is necessary to bring about success, even if that means limited exposure to fun during Block 8 –– to be clear, don’t expect to see them at Cowboy’s this Wednesday.