Farrell Displays LAX Skills In ‘Super Junior’ Classic
June 25, 2009 by Greg Lederer
The summer between junior and senior year is a critical time when it comes to recruiting high school athletes. College coaches are restricted to how much contact they can have with athletes prior to their junior year, so the staff and scouts want to use their time wisely.
Connecticut does their part to bring the two sides together in lacrosse. Each year, boys and girls from around the state try out for the title of ‘Super Junior.’ Players are divided into teams and given a stage for college coaches to watch them face off against elite competition.
Cheshire High School attack Kailey Farrell recently took full advantage of her opportunity. Farrell was among 36 girls chosen to represent Connecticut in their rivalry with standout juniors from Massachusetts. Connecticut evened the series, 1-1, with a 13-8 road win on June 18.
It was an honor because I know there are a ton of good juniors out there,” said Farrell, who exploded for a career-high 72 goals and added nine assists during her junior season at CHS. “It felt great to be one of the players selected.”
Her play was pivotal to helping Connecticut avenge last year’s loss to Massachusetts. Connecticut created three different teams for the 2009 game at Harvard University. Farrell tallied a hat trick while playing the third halve.
“I thought it was fun and definitely winning against Massachusetts was great,” Farrell said. “They beat us bad last year.”
Despite being the only girl from Cheshire, Farrell was quite familiar with teammates from her club team. Nor’easter is one of the top lacrosse programs in the region and members travel to a number of select tournaments.
“There were a lot of girls from Nor’easter there,” said Farrell. “We put together plays to get each other open.”
Farrell stood out during a June 16 tryout at Wesleyan University. Ten teams played a pair of 15-minute scrimmages and then transitioned into a full game.
“There is a lot of pressure because nobody drops the ball,” explained Farrell. “You don’t want to be the one to drop it, but it’s good to have people that know what they are doing.”
“I knew she would be a strong candidate for ‘Super Junior,’” said CHS Head Coach Dan Warburton. “Kailey is a strong player in the state and when I nominated her, I thought she had a great chance. I think she deserved to be on the team.”
The high school program extends her friendship with classmate Katharine Eddy. The girls each possess height and speed, which allows them to look over and blow by the defense. Farrell earned All-State second team and All-Southern Connecticut Conference first team this spring, helping the Rams capture the SCC regular season title and defeat rival Daniel Hand for the first time since 2006. Eddy and classmate Alyssa Dupont will join Farrell as 2010 captains.
“I think she leads by example on the field,” said Warburton. “Lacrosse is very important to her and she is a hard worker at practice.”
Eddy earned Honorable Mention All-American, along with All-State/All-SCC first team, for becoming the first CHS player to tally at least 80 goals (81) and 30 assists (38) in the same season. The Rams collectively broke the single-season record for goals with 276.
“A lot of attention got paid to Katharine because of what she did, but Kailey was right up there with her,” said Warburton. “She (Farrell) is one of only five players to score at least 70 goals in our 14-year history.”
The ‘Super Junior’ game is part of a busy summer schedule, in which Farrell will represent Nor’easter. She recently returned from competing in the Champion’s Cup (Downington, Pa.: June 12-14) and Capitol Cup (Germantown, Md.; June 19-21) tournaments.
“Some teams come from all over like Colorado. I always thought lacrosse was a small sport, but it is growing so much,” said Farrell. “Maryland is very good. It makes you want to be better. We have the top players in Connecticut, so we are evenly matched with a lot of teams.”
“Anytime you get a chance to play against strong players, it inevitably improves your game,” said Warburton. “When you don’t play a strong schedule, you aren’t being pushed every game.”
Farrell also earned All-SCC second team as a first-year starting goalkeeper for the CHS field hockey team last fall, but lacrosse is her number one focus at the next level. She contacted a few college coaches to inform them that she would be playing at Harvard Stadium.
“When I go to tournaments for Nor’easter, I go to visit colleges,” said Farrell. “I’m very interested in Monmouth. I’ve also visited Saint Michael’s (College) and Marist.”
Liz Siekman, a 2007 CHS graduate and former lacrosse captain, is headed into her junior season at Saint Michael’s and has talked to Farrell about the program.
“The Saint Michael’s coach (Carla Hesler) has been at my games,” Farrell recalled. “She (Siekman) is trying to get me to go to their games.”