Eckerd Lacrosse Ranks Third in the Nation

In 3 short years, the Eckerd College Men's Lacrosse Team has catapulted to national standing and set the foundation for more successful seasons. The Tritons finished the season ranked #3 in the National Collegiate Club Lacrosse Poll with a 13-1 record. Congratulations to graduating senior players Kyle Sullivan, Ray Vasilas, John Kavanagh, Anthony Vasilas, and Blaise Bess!

Eckerd Men's Lacrosse has built a strong tradition of success and growth. In 2003, team founders and co-captains Kyle Sullivan & Ray Vasilas motivated to organize all interested players, garner funding from the school, identify a coach, and enter into the well-established Florida Lacrosse League. With the support and guidance of coach Tony Collette, a new legacy of lacrosse continues to gain momentum at Eckerd College. The Tritons were 2004 and 2005 Florida Lacrosse League Champions and most recently, 2006 Champions of the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference (SELC-B).

Fellow graduating senior and friend Craig Altemose shared Kyle and Ray's story with incoming freshmen students at the Ceremony of Lights ceremony in August 2005:

Kyle and Ray came to Eckerd eager to learn, ready to explore, and filled with a common passion for the sport of lacrosse. They had in their favor the fact that they shared this passion, as well as knowing the identity of their passion. Unfortunately, they also had a large disadvantage: Eckerd College had no lacrosse team.

Faced with this fact, Kyle and Ray had two choices: first, to complain for a while and then move on, abandoning their passion or second, to transfer to a school that had a lacrosse program, abandoning their love for Eckerd College and all the opportunities it had awaiting them.

Kyle and Ray chose option number three: to do something about it. Together with a handful of other interested students, they practiced freshman year. At the end of the year, they formed an Eckerd College Organization of Students (ECOS) club. Their sophomore year they managed to field a team in the Florida Lacrosse League, and what a team it was.

Entering a well-established league, the Eckerd College Men's Lacrosse Club finished the season undefeated, winning the state championship. To prove it was no fluke, they won states again in their junior year. In their upcoming senior year, Kyle and Ray will lead the Eckerd College Lacrosse Club in the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference, playing against regional powerhouses like Virginia Tech, Davidson, Florida State, Emory, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest.

So, why am I telling a story about lacrosse, when this is an academic institution? Because in the end, this story is not about lacrosse; it is about passion. The undefeated season, the state championships, those were natural consequences of passion. Ray Vasilas and Kyle Sullivan had the unique advantage of knowing their passion before arriving at Eckerd College.

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