Lake Forest High School Wins State Championship In Boys Lacrosse

LAKE FOREST, IL — The Lake Forest High School boys lacrosse team are 2024 Illinois state champions after the squad emerged victorious from the state final tournament on Saturday.

Led by coach David Hone, the team finished the season with an overall record of 23 wins and just three losses — none in conference action.

The LFHS Scouts took the sectional championship after outscoring their opponents 37-8 over three games last month. They then went on to defeat rival Loyola Academy by 7-1 in the May 28 super-sectional at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.

In the state final tournament in Hinsdale last week, Lake Forest defeated St. Ignatius College Prep of Chicago by a score of 12-3 before squaring off in the final against Glenbard West on Saturday, taking the state title by a score of 4-1.

Hone said all 30 players, who were honored at Tuesday's District 115 school board meeting, worked hard throughout the season to achieve their ultimate objective.

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"This special breed of Scout pursued the four pillars of success, which were set at the start of the year to measure progress and help them at critical points in games," the coach said in a statement.

"These pillars are: lacrosse intelligence, team chemistry, physical strength and conditioning, and mental durability. This last pillar, mental durability, was seen as the most important pillar and proved critically important in games," Hone said. "When the Scouts fell behind or made mental errors, they relied on mental preparation and processes learned to overcome key hurdles and momentum swings in games."

The boys varsity team was captained by Graham Garrigan, Augie Silver, Oscar Kokke and Marty Hippel.

All season long, the team honored a former member of the team who died five years ago.

Jack Adams wore No. 4 for the Scouts lacrosse team before graduating in 2017. He died at age 20 in a 2019 wakesurfing accident on Clear Lake in Indiana. Since then, the team has passed down the jersey number 4 to the player who most embodies his legacy.

The IHSA has held a state championship in lacrosse since the 2017-18 school year, when Loyola Academy bested New Trier High School. Two years ago, Lake Forest made it to the final but lost out to Loyola in a 6-5 thriller.

The LFHS girls lacrosse team also made it to the IHSA state finals last weekend, but an 18-6 loss to Benet Academy of Lisle and a 10-7 defeat to Hinsdale Central High School meant the Scouts had to settle for fourth place and an overall record of 19 wins and seven losses.

“This team was a united group of girls," said head coach Cat Catanzaro, "who worked very hard on and off the field to create meaningful relationships with each other that will serve them well for many years to come.”