Claremont Cougars on the Prowl for Conference Championship, Nationals

Dayna Locitzer / Claremont Student

By Rachael Warecki
Sports Editor

The most compelling 5C sports team this spring doesn’t compete as a varsity squad. But there’s nothing amateurish about the Claremont Cougars’ level of play, and despite obstacles both on and off the field, the Cougars have emerged as strong contenders for a national title.

Ranked third in the nation in the small schools division of the United States Lacrosse IA, the Claremont Men’s Lacrosse team means to make a statement this year, aiming for the conference title and then a spot in the national championship tournament, which will be held this year in Dallas. In the past, the team has dominated the small schools division of the USLIA. They came in second in the West Coast Lacrosse League (WCLL) division last year, and they hope to place first this season.

Dylan Sheridan (CMC ’06), one of three team captains, believes that the toughest on-the-field obstacle to this goal is division rival University of San Diego, who placed first in the WCLL last year and went on to win the 2005 national championship. “It was a tough season,” Sheridan says of 2005. “Most people around the country felt that we were the second-best team [in the conference], but because of the way the tournament was set up, only the conference champions moved on to the nationals.” This season there are three at-large bids for entry into the national championship tournament, which prevents last year’s scenario from recurring, but Sheridan still feels that “the road to the nationals, as well as a conference title, goes through San Diego.”

San Diego, home to the Cougars’ rival team, is also the site of the First Four tournament, which Sheridan characterizes as “the biggest event in lacrosse history on the West Coast.” The First Four is an elite NCAA lacrosse invitational created to showcase the top Division I men’s college lacrosse programs in the country. Claremont plays the University of San Diego in the 3 p.m. preliminary game on March 10.

Beating USD in the conference title game – “they dismantled us last year,” Sheridan admits – is a huge priority because that victory would automatically get Claremont into the nationals in Dallas. However, the Cougars can’t afford to focus solely on their rival. “We currently have at least six top-25 ranked teams on our schedule,” Sheridan says. “I’d like to beat all of them on our way to a conference title.”

The team has made some vast improvements from last year that will no doubt help them in their quest. Along with the influx of some talented freshmen, the core of the Cougars has returned for the 2006 season, including three 2005 First Team All-Americans who are also the team captains: Sheridan (who was an All-American for the 2004 season as well), Tim Thacher (Pomona ’07), and Jason Trapp (CMC ’06). The head coach, Pete Ginnegar, was new to the program last season, but now has a year of coaching under his belt. And, the Cougars have welcomed the addition of assistant coach Mat Wilson, who played Division I lacrosse at Georgetown University and graduated in 2005.

What makes Claremont’s past record and future goals all the more impressive is the number of challenges they must overcome on a regular basis. Unlike the majority of the athletic teams here at the 5Cs, the Claremont Cougars are a club team, and because of their non-varsity status they face issues not encountered by other nationally-ranked teams at the Consortium. Because the team has players from CMC, Pomona, and Pitzer, the Cougars must deal with the two different athletic departments in order to get practice fields, trainers, locker rooms, funding, and many other things that college varsity programs take for granted.

Acquiring funds is the biggest issue. In order to pay for equipment, referees, coaches, and cost of travel, every player pays team dues. To keep the dues low, the players petition the schools for support and hold fundraising events. Unlike the other 5C teams, who mostly compete with other similar Division III schools in SCIAC, the Cougars regularly travel to play against Division I schools such as Stanford, Cal, UCLA, and USC, and have a hard time matching the resources that these well-funded schools have at their disposal. However, through hard work and generous donations, the Cougars have increased their funding in the last four years. Much of the support and effort has come from President Chatom Arkin and faculty advisor John Faranda. And as for the Cougars’ level of play against such Division I teams, the scores speak for themselves: Claremont defeated Cal handily in 2004.

Despite their competitive excellence, the Cougars will remain at club status until lacrosse as a sport becomes more popular and well-funded at the NCAA level. Unless CMS and Pomona-Pitzer decide to make the aggressive jump of creating two varsity teams, Claremont Men’s Lacrosse will continue to recruit their players from all four of the coed colleges in the Consortium and to fund their program in whatever ways they can.