Ithaca High represented at Under Armour Games

The Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Games took place from Oct. 16-18 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and featured athletes from 12 different regions across the country. Upstate New York was represented, and four athletes from Ithaca High School were selected to participate. They were Alecia Nicholas, Mackenzie Rich, Zachary Cartmill and Shea Baker, the last of whom did not attend the games.

It was quite a challenge to be named to the team. Athletes had to compete in a regional tryout among many players followed by a callback. A few days after the callbacks, the players were notified if they made their regional team.

Nicholas, goaltender for the Ithaca Little Red, ended up leading her tournament in saves with 34. She discussed the feeling of being able to play at a high level after her junior season was scrapped due to COVID-19.

“It was great,” Nicholas said. “I haven’t been able to play lacrosse for a while, especially at that level. I haven’t been able to play since last fall. It was really great to get out there and play against some really good girls again.”

Nicholas and Rich are best friends and both have committed to the University of North Carolina to play lacrosse. Being together in Virginia Beach made the weekend that much easier for each other.

“It was awesome,” Rich said. “It was cool to represent Ithaca, and obviously, when you know someone, you can communicate on the field better and talk about what we need to work on for other games and stuff. So, it was really nice.”

A task for athletes everywhere during these times has been to stay active, and a showcase like this certainly helps on that front. Nicholas, who is also on the Ithaca Little Red soccer team, went into detail on how she’s staying in lacrosse shape.

“Ithaca Little Red has been having practices twice a week, then also my club team,” she said. “Throughout the summer, I was up there [Syracuse] playing once a week for practice. I had a couple play days with them. Then recently, I was doing the soccer workouts at the high school.”

Raising the level of competition certainly helps the development of Nicholas and Rich as players as they head to the Division I level next year.

“With school, obviously, we’re only playing with people from our area,” Rich said. “So, we don’t really get to see how other teams play or get super hard competition. Going to things like these, we can play against people from all over, which is really nice to just see the competition and be able to play against all levels.”

With that raised level of competition, both Rich and Nicholas stood out. Rich tallied five goals, which put her in the top 10 of her tournament, and Nicholas’ 34 saves landed her a spot on the All-North Super Regional Team afterward. Nicholas discussed that honor.

“It was great,” Nicholas said. “I really appreciate stuff like that because I think it validates the hard work that I’ve been putting in. Obviously, awards aren’t everything, but it’s nice to see that. My coaches and my teammates really thought I played well and deserved that.”

The teammates competed in three games in Virginia, and for Rich, one game stood out among the rest.

“We had one game against New England, and it was close,” Rich said. “We won 7-6. At first, we lost to Long Island, and we had a tough loss. So, coming back from that and winning by one in a gut-wrencher was a good moment.”

Now looking ahead, the upcoming high school athletics season is still in question. Ithaca has already pushed back all sports to at least January 2021, but Nicholas is maintaining a positive attitude throughout the process.

“I know the school is trying their best to get a season for us, which I really appreciate,” she said. “It sucks that we can’t have soccer in the fall, but I think the school’s working really hard. I think there’s a pretty good shot that we will definitely get to play some lacrosse in the spring.”

When that season hopefully comes, expectations will be high for the Little Red. Rich hopes that the team will win sectionals in her final season, and Nicholas touched on what a final season would mean to her before she moves onto college.

“These are the girls that I’ve been with since probably fifth or sixth grade,” she said. “We’ve been playing lacrosse together for years. So, getting that kind of closure to the end of my Ithaca career before I can move on to the next thing is definitely very important.”

After missing out on a junior season, Rich and Nicholas have been making sure to stay active and have been getting proper recognition while doing so. Hopefully, they’ll be able to build upon the experience they had at the Under Armour Games with the Ithaca Little Red in the spring.