O’Rourke was a captain last season when the Bears’ lacrosse team won its first state title in program history. He returns this season again as a captain.

 

Q: How does it feel to be the defending state champion?

A: The East Metro, there’s no teams that had won a state championship. So we wanted to be the first team to do that. … The feeling of winning a state championship, it’s a great accomplishment to have because the community was awesome to us … It was just an unreal experience.

 

Q: After graduating a lot of seniors last season, what is your mentality as a captain starting this season?

A: We’re only as good as our weakest link. … We’ve got a lot of younger guys trying out this year. We’re looking forward to seeing some competition and who understands certain areas of the game. Mainly, we’re looking to create younger kids and have them improve more for the future.

 

Q: What are the team’s strengths heading into the season?

A: There’s definitely a lot of guys that can step up from last year that we’re returning. I think we’re looking pretty good with the guys that turned out to the captain’s practice.

 

Q: What’s the team’s energy like as defending state champs?

A: We have tradition. We all love the game, all the returners. We’re crazy before practice, we always yell around … but when practice starts, it’s time to start the season off.

 

Q: What are your plans after graduation?

A: I’m going to North Dakota State University and I’m going to play club lacrosse.

Kaitlin Merkel