ON THE RISE

The Redmond Lacrosse Club is storming toward a state title this spring after a cloudy 2007 campaign.

The RLC started the season with a new coach, an infusion of new talent, a few key returners and dropped down a division. It even changed its name.

It all adds up to a team that went from 1-13 last year, to a 9-1 and a Division II Cascade Conference championship.

“These boys have provided a tremendous amount of effort and great desire and it’s equalled into really nice results,” RLC head coach Jean-Claude de Raoulx said. “They have achieved something they should be very proud of.”

Because lacrosse isn’t a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association sponsored sport, RLC has no affiliation with any specific high school. But the club does play home games at Redmond High and encompasses players from Redmond High, Lake Washington High, Juanita High, The Bear Creek School and the International Community School.

This season’s success was something that even de Raoulx didn’t think was possible at the start of the year. Not bad for a team that wasn’t even supposed to be on the radar for a playoff spot.

“Not really,” de Raoulx said when asked if he thought his team would go undefeated. “You try to find the best role for each player. Sometimes it’s in a directly involved role, sometimes it’s in a supportive role, and that’s what we’ve been figuring out. And also working on the fundamentals. But no, I could not have foreseen it.”

This may be de Raoulx’s first year at Redmond, but he is certainly an experienced coach. He is currently the club lacrosse coach at Central Washington University, a team that reached the quarterfinals this year in their league before getting eliminated, and has coached several local lacrosse teams at various levels, including coaching the middle school grades of Eastside Lacrosse — the previous name of RLC — earlier this decade.

One of his players at the time was a little sixth-grader, named John Burke. This year, Burke was reunited with de Raoulx as a senior at Redmond High and a co-captain of the RLC. His skills have certainly grown, as he caught the notice of college scouts and is heading off next year to Saint John’s University in Minnesota to play lacrosse.

Burke said he had some reservations when he heard de Raoulx was coming back, not because he wasn’t a good coach but because he had a reputation of being tough on the players. But Burke, who led the team with 25 goals going into last Friday’s final game, said he is thrilled with the results.

“I think it’s been pretty important,” Burke said of the coaching change. “We have a lot of kids who are driven on the team. But those who aren’t, JC (de Raoulx) helps push them along and helps them become greater lacrosse players.”

Burke is one of just three seniors, but all three seniors are standouts. Goalie John Olin has been one of the best goalies in Division II, leading the league in goals allowed per game (3.56), save percentage (77 percent) and wins (nine). The third senior is Bear Creek’s Greg Kautz, who will attend Northern Arizona University next year. de Raoulx said he hopes Kautz will try out for the lacrosse team there because he has the talent to play at the next level.

In addition, several juniors have stepped into the leadership role, including junior co-captain Tyler Dougherty. Dougherty leads the team in scoring with 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) entering Friday’s game against Northshore.

“Our team really puts it (all) together,” Dougherty said. “We’ve been able to pass and catch, which was kind of a problem last year. This year has just been a lot of fun.”

The players admit they probably wouldn’t have the same success if they were still in Division I, the top level of competition. But de Raoulx said he does believe the team would still have a “strong record” and Dougherty said he believes this year’s team would defeat last year’s Redmond club.

But it’s not just about winning, said Burke, who has competed in soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling and cross country before realizing lacrosse was his favorite.

“It’s how you win that’s important and we win and lose as a team this year,” Burke said. “This is actually my favorite sports team I’ve played on. Ever.”

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