As the girls lacrosse 2024 season is set to begin on March 4, the collective experience around the sport continues to grow entering its fourth season as a sanctioned UHSAA sport. This will be the first season that some seniors will have played high school lacrosse all four years of high school.
As a result of that experience, the quality of play across the state should be at an all-time high this spring.
The top teams in the Deseret News preseason coaches rankings heading into the season will be Mountain Ridge (6A), Park City (5A) and Bear River (4A).
In 6A, Mountain Ridge narrowly edged out Lone Peak for the top spot in the 6A preaseason rankings. The two teams played in an epic 6A championship a year ago, with Lone Peak winning 11-10.
Emery Clark is back for the Sentinels after scoring 38 goals a year ago.
Park City claims the top spot in the 5A preseason rankings ahead of rival Olympus, which it beat in last year’s title game 5A.
Both teams are loaded with returning talent will be the clear favorites in 5A once again.
“After graduating only three seniors, Park City’s roster will remain strong in 2024. Key returners to the midfield will be senior Charlie Iacobelli (Cal Berkeley commit), juniors Maddie McHenry and Megan Magee (both missed the majority of the season due to injuries), and late season standout sophomore Coco Crawford,” said Park City coach Mikki Clayton.
Olympus’ roster also features numerous college signees, including seniors Hazel Baker and Sydney Rossi.
Bear River checks in at No. 1 in the preseason 4A rankings after winning the past two state championships.
“One of the things I love about coaching high school sports is you can’t really replace how a team is put together year after year, but it’s not about trying to replace what has left, it’s about understanding and allowing your players to do it the way they do it, and I feel really optimistic about what we have coming up this season,” said Bear River coach Jeremy Webb.
Bear River’s top returning all-state from a year ago is midfielder Makenzie Mickelsen.
Class 6A
Team (2023 record)
- Mountain Ridge (13-7)
- Lone Peak (18-2)
- Bingham (11-6)
- Herriman (13-4)
- Farmington (17-2)
Class 5A
Team (2023 record)
- Park City (15-4)
- Olympus (17-1)
- Brighton (12-6)
- Alta (11-7)
- Wasatch (12-5)
Class 4A
Team (2023 record)
- Bear River (17-1)
- Waterford (5-8)
- Provo (14-6)
- Mountain Crest (14-4)
- Payson (12-7)