The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
By Dave Colucci
With so many great sports in the Gunnison Valley, it can be a bit tricky pulling together a last-minute team. But that’s just what the West Elk Lacrosse Club did this past weekend. The call went out for a 7V7 tournament down in Santa Fe, and a barebones crew answered it.
The tournament was on the first weekend of fall break, making participation even more difficult. Seven U12 West Elk warriors, a minimum team with no subs, put together a few practices and on their own prepared to head south to Santa Fe.
A big thanks goes out to coach Andrew Hadley for taking the reins of our motley crew, and another to Colleen Hegeman for being team mom and organizer. With Luke Walton and Mario Ladoulis on attack, AJ Hegeman and Liam Hadley on midfield, Merrick Jeffrey and Levi Chandler on defense and Mason Colucci in goal, the boys were eager and ready.
New Mexico provided perfect lacrosse weather, and the Warriors found themselves against a nice range of teams from El Paso, Santa Fe, Durango and Telluride, with a number of clubs fielding multiple teams. A tough schedule aside, the Warriors battled through with every player, including our own goalie, finding the goal. They soon found themselves at game six with a 3-2 record against the Gunnison Valley’s arch-nemesis Telluride.
A battle commenced. Telluride fielded a team double in numbers to West Elk, and had a single-point advantage heading into halftime. The second half had the Telluride coaches in a panic, ordering subs left and right, but to no avail. The West Elk warriors gained the lead with a few minutes remaining in the game. With no subs, the boys began to get fatigued and it looked like they might not be able to hold on to the lead. Merrick Jeffery and Levi Chandler played shut down defense, and midfielders Liam Hadley and Luke Walton stepped up to turn away any Telluride attack. AJ Hegeman, hobbled by injuries, took a feed from Mario Ladoulis with less than a minute remaining and managed to find the back of the net to give the team an 8-6 advantage. In the end, the West Elk Warriors were triumphant—youth sports at its best, with perfect weather and a good time had by everyone.
The West Elk Warriors Lacrosse Club is always looking for new faces for our spring season. Find out more about this awesome fast-paced game at www.westelklacrosse.com.
