TopLaxrecruits.com, Posted 2/7/13
From Press Release
The Minnesota Elite Girls Lacrosse program is pleased to announce that five of its high school juniors have verbally committed to play lacrosse at the NCAA Division I level in college.
Starting with one high school level team in January of 2010, the Minnesota Elite Girls Program has expanded to field six teams. In just 3 years, the Minnesota Elite Club has received attention from collegiate coaches from top tier programs around the country.
The following MN Elite players have made verbal commitments to Division I programs:
Player/Club Team/High School
Lydia Sutton, Minnesota Elite 2014, The Blake School
Verbally Committed: University of Southern California
Sydney Evensen, Minnesota Elite 2014, Stillwater Area High School
Verbally Committed: Colorado University at Boulder
Anna Johnson, Minnesota Elite 2014, Eden Prairie High School
Verbally Committed: Colorado University at Boulder
Oralee Hespenheide (Goal Keeper) Minnesota Elite 2014, Bloomington Jefferson
Verbally Committed: Duke University
Anne Slusser, Minnesota Elite 2014, The Blake School
Verbally Committed: Duke University
Two sets of Minnesota Elite players will embark on the road to college together. Anna Johnson and Sydney Evensen will be playing for the Buffalo at Colorado University and Anne Slusser and Oralee Hespenheide will both be attending Duke University.
“I am super excited that one of my best friends on MN Elite, Anna Johnson, is also verbally committed to CU!” said Evensen.
Canadian born Lydia Sutton was recently named to the 2013 Canadian World Cup Team, the youngest player on the Canadian senior women’s team roster. Sutton will play against her future USC college coaches, Lindsey Munday and Devon Wills of Team USA, in an exhibition match this spring during the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Division I Championship playoff games, May 24-26th. Sutton will then play in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, July 11-20, 2013.
The Minnesota Elite Girls Program was established to bring a highly competitive lacrosse program to the state of Minnesota. Eden Prairie High School’s Judy Baxter and The Blake School’s Laura Mark, lacrosse leaders and girl’s varsity coaching rivals, anchor the coaching staff.
Baxter and Mark have coached against each other in the Minnesota State High School Championship Title game every year. Mark and Baxter united with Minnesota Elite to offer the girls lacrosse community the benefits of their collective coaching.
“Our strategy is counter intuitive,” Mark said. “We strategically play the nations top teams in the highest level of competition at the top college recruiting tournaments. We have learned that college coaches are not focused on the score and so it’s all about showcasing the girls and playing well.”
Baxter added, “Top Baltimore and Long Island club teams have played together at the elite level for years. While we don’t win every game out East, we put up a good fight and I think college coaches have been surprised by us.
“We’ve heard that they like our hustle and athleticism, especially coming from what is considered to be a non-traditional lacrosse area.”