Monday was the first day or preseason practices for both sports, as well as all the other spring high school sports. It’s the first step for the Vikings boys’ and girls’ teams to improve on respective 2-10 campaigns from a year ago.
The Oxford Hills boys won just two games in coach Hunter Rowell’s first season at the helm. The 2010 Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School graduate and boys’ lacrosse player is hoping his second campaign at his alma mater only gets better.
“The second year being the head coach, it’s a lot of pressure to definitely maintain the program, get it better than it was the previous season,” Rowell said. “Definitely more confident being at the helm of the ship this year. The kids are ecstatic, the program’s changed.”
Rowell said he is trying to change the culture at Oxford Hills, something he learned from University of Maine at Farmington men’s coach Jim Dock, who was an assistant when Rowell played for the team. The still-young coach has reached out to multiple coaches on ways to improve the program, including the staff from Lincoln-Sudbury in Massachusetts. Rowell said Lincoln-Sudbury went through a drought of success, but the team won a state championship last year.
Rowell learned a lesson in community-building from the reigning Massachusetts Division I champs, and he is bringing that to Oxford Hills.
“We changed the culture a lot this year, really adopted that brotherhood, and incorporating the history of the game,” Rowell said. “The kids are really eating that up this year, which is awesome.”
Senior attacker Kelton Loper admitted there was “a little bit of tension” last year between incumbent players and a new coaching staff, but that’s all in the past now. Loper said Rowell “certainly knows what he’s doing,” and the fact that he was a former Vikings player makes him relatable to the current players.
In Rowell’s second year, he plans to be better prepared. He thought he had all the answers last season, but realized he needed to improve his practice plans.
That preseason game plan starts in the gym, which would have happened even if rain didn’t force teams around the state inside.
“I kind of like having the indoor practice to show them the tightness of the game, what we can and can’t do,” said Rowell, who compared practicing in a gym to box lacrosse, which is played in an arena.
A mile away from Rowell’s first practice of the season, the Oxford Hills girls were also practicing in a gym (the boys practiced at the middle school, the girls at the high school). But the feeling wasn’t mutual about starting the season with a roof overhead.
“It doesn’t give you a full picture of the game,” Oxford Hills girls’ coach Jaimee (Brett) Smith of practicing inside. “But we can take all the components and the fundamentals and hopefully put them together.”
Smith has been at Oxford Hills longer than Rowell, now entering her fifth year leading the program. But like her colleague, her team is coming off a two-win season that didn’t include a postseason berth.
“I have a huge optimistic outlook on everything that’s happening so far,” Smith said. “The energy feels really good and everybody’s eager to learn.”
Monday’s practice was mostly dedicated to the fundamentals of the game for the Oxford Hills girls. Smith said her team won’t stop focusing on them. Tuesday or Wednesday will hopefully allow the team to get outside and acclimate to how the ball moves on grass. The Vikings will need a refresher on the field before participating in a round robin on Saturday.
Smith said conditioning will be a big focus this year, with relatively low numbers in the program. Depth hurt the team last year, and the Vikings hope to learn from that lesson, which included a handful of close losses.
This year’s team is “willing to learn,” according to Smith, who has her sights set on at least a .500 record or better, and a playoff berth for the first time since 2012.
The wait has been longer for the Oxford Hills boys, who last qualified for the postseason in Rowell’s freshman year in 2007. Loper, hoping to finish his Vikings career the same way Rowell started his, said the playoffs are a real possibility.
“We’re ready, and hopefully we’re going to show everyone in the conference that Oxford Hills is no longer a name to be shoved under the rug,” Loper said.
Rowell is instilling a “blue-collar mentality” in his program, and said putting the boys’ lacrosse program on the map starts with work ethic.
That work began in the gym on Monday. Rowell called the indoor practice a rite of passage for the team. The stifling temperature inside will make the players “sweat it out” before earning time on the grass field.
Loper said the team isn’t allowed to hit inside, so getting out of the gym and onto the grass will hopefully come soon.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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