Aug. 15, 2007

The players on opposing teams smile when they see the University of Wyoming lacrosse team arrive for a game. When the Cowboys show up, odds are there will be an addition to the opponent's win column at game's end.

The Wyoming team, made up of semi-experienced high school players out of Colorado and lacrosse neophytes from the home state, plays hard and has fun. It just doesn't match up real well with other programs in the `B' division of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference.

Montana State walloped the Cowboys, 24-3. Metropolitan State routed U-dub, 21-3. Northern Colorado rolled, 28-2. Wyoming finished the 2007 campaign with a 2-7 record, with one of those victories being a 1-0 forfeit win over CSU-Pueblo.

"It was our best year," said team president David Pomeroy with a small laugh. "We're adding new jerseys next year so we're trying to step it up a little bit."

It may take a tad more than new equipment to turn the Cowboys into a contender in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (formerly the MDIA), but they do have a championship to their credit.

As it turns out, there was another team smiling when members of the Wyoming lacrosse team arrived at the fields last spring.

The University of Wyoming is located in Laramie, a rugged college town of 25,000 residents boasting just one eponymous high school. Up until last spring there was no organized lacrosse at any level for Laramie youngsters, but Mark Panter -- a former player and coach from the Denver area -- decided he was going to start a high school team to give his son the opportunity to play the sport.

"There were a lot of growing pains because there wasn't an overwhelming response," said Panter. "For a while there it was touch and go; we weren't sure if we could have the program. I think we ended up with 14 players total. It was kind of hard to get it off the ground."

It would have been impossible to get off the ground without the assistance of three players from UW. Although they had enough to worry about with their struggling lacrosse team, Pomeroy, Jesse Clement and Jimmy Patton decided to help teach the sport to the 14 players who were brave enough to wear the Laramie Nighthawk jersey.

"This was the first year they were able to get enough guys to be recognized as a high school club team," said Clement, a native of Cheyenne, 45 miles west of Laramie. "They needed some coaches, so me, Dave and Jimmy were interested."

"It was their first year and they needed help," added Pomeroy, who went to high school at Eastern Tech in Baltimore County.

While Panter helped the team as much as his job would allow, he estimates he was only available for about half the practices. The boys from U-dub filled in the gaps.

"A lot of times they ran the practice by themselves," said Panter. "I would just try to coordinate and make sure everybody was on the same page and went through what I thought we needed to work on. They were pretty instrumental."

The UW players also gave the Laramie kids a rudimentary perspective.

"Mark always wanted to do chalk talk, so we asked the players whether they liked that or if they wanted us to put them on the field and show them the positions," said Clement. "They wanted us to put them on the field and show them how to run a play. It was all trial and error. If something didn't work we'd tell them to try it this way. They were all ears and it worked for them."

"I'm just one person and didn't always relate well to everyone on the team, and they helped to bridge that gap," said Panter. "The kids I wasn't able to reach, they managed to reach. I really appreciate what they did."

The Nighthawks traveled to Colorado for a couple of tournaments as well as playing the two other teams in the state -- Cheyenne East and Cheyenne Central. As a way to spark more lacrosse interest in other communities within the state (Casper is rumored to be toying with a team), one of the Cheyenne coaches came up with the idea of promoting a `State Championship,' which boiled down to the two Cheyenne teams and Laramie.

Using the tutelage of Panter and the Wyoming volunteers, the Laramie starters -- and all four of the subs -- were able to subdue their adversaries from the capital and capture the title.

"When we started the program we knew we weren't going to overwhelm anyone with our lacrosse skills and sticks skills, so we focused our efforts on playing good defense and using the athletic skills of the players," said Panter. "I knew we would be able to compete, but the fact that we were so successful was a surprise."

After they won the title, the Nighthawks and their coach showed their appreciation, in a tasty way, to the three college kids who dedicated much of their free time to Laramie's success.

"They all got together and got me, Dave and Jimmy a cake, so they really appreciated what we did," said Clement. "Mark helped us out in a financial way, giving us a little money on the side to say thanks for all the help. They definitely showed their appreciation because they were very excited when they won the state championship."

This will likely be the only title Pomeroy, Clement and Patton capture in their careers. UW gets half its players from in-state -- Panter refers to lacrosse in Wyoming as a "misnomer" -- and the rest mostly from Colorado preps, so it is a stretch to think the Cowboys will become a threat to the RMLC heavyweights anytime soon. And, frankly, the program has a hard time coaxing the majority of its 36-man roster to away games, never mind win championships.

But for a couple of months last spring, three college-aged kids from the University of Wyoming selflessly turned a bunch of high school kids into the champions they themselves will probably never be.

And that's a reason to smile.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.