April 5, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Maine’s Monks an all-around success

by Michael Hoffer/

Mariah Monks (right) already has a state championship and All-America award as she begins her senior season at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine.

Mariah Monks (right) already has a state championship and All-America award as she begins her senior season at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine.

From heartache as a freshman through triumph last June, Mariah Monks has made the very best of every situation on the lacrosse field.

The senior midfielder at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine, coming off a season that included a state championship and an All-America selection, has dazzled in good moments and bad during her high school career and is looking forward to an opportunity to compete at the next level.

Next year, Monks will join one of the finest Division 3 programs in the country when she matriculates at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.

The defending NCAA national champion Continentals, coached by Patty Kloidt, cruised to victory their first two games this season to extend their winning streak to 21. They also were ranked first nationally in mid-March.

Monks had several college choices, but ultimately chose Hamilton over the likes of Connecticut College, Franklin and Marshall, Trinity and Vassar.

“I really wanted a school that would challenge me academically and would suit me athletically,” Monks said. “I really wanted to play good lacrosse. I tried to find a coach and a team that was intense but also understood the importance of having fun. I think I found that combination at Hamilton. Patty really values a close-knit team. I’m happy with my decision and obviously, my acceptance.”

The feeling is mutual.

“Mariah has a competitive spirit and loves to win,” Kloidt said. “Who doesn’t want to coach a kid like that? She appealed to me because of her athleticism, size and versatility. She’s a great kid who tells it like it is. We’ve been instilling that into the culture of our team for three years now, so she should do just fine within the matrix of our team.”

Monks started playing lacrosse in sixth grade and took to it immediately. As a freshman, she became an important cog on a senior-laden team that would ultimately stretch a three-year win streak to 36 games.

That string ended with a decisive and shocking loss to Yarmouth in the state final, but Monks stood tall that day, scoring two of her team’s five goals while serving notice that even brighter moments were ahead.

“It was a heartbreaking loss as a freshman, but it was a big confidence boost for me,” Monks said. “After that year, I knew lacrosse was something I really wanted to pursue and that it was important to me. A lot of my college process was centered around finding the right lacrosse team for me.”

Cathie Connors, the Waynflete dynasty-builder who has coached nine state championship teams and sent over 30 players on to college in her 16 seasons as coach, knew right away she had a gem.

“Just looking at [Mariah], she’s an athlete,” Connors said. “I knew she’d master it. She asked questions and wanted to get better. She was confident in tryouts as a freshman. Some kids said that week was the worst week of their lives. She said it was the best. She just fed into it. The anxiety didn’t get to her.”

After a solid sophomore campaign, Monks excelled as a junior, scoring 38 goals and adding 24 assists. She had a team-high three scores in a 12-8 victory over North Yarmouth Academy in the state title game, and became a rare junior to be named All-American.

While Monks is a prolific offensive threat, she’s far from one-dimensional.

“I like the fact lacrosse requires agility as well as raw athleticism,” Monks said. “I like the fast-paced factor of it. You can be equally as good on offense as defense. A strong defender is equally as valuable as a strong attacker. That’s what I really like about being a midfielder, playing both ends of the field.”

Said Connors: “Mariah’s always calm and confident. She has beautiful stick skills. She can catch anything from anywhere. She has incredible field sense. She knows what’s going to happen before it happens, which makes her so valuable in the midfield. She’s great on defense. She’s fast on transition. On attack, you can’t stop her. She has a beautiful, strong shot. She’s a big-game performer. Where others might get rattled, she just turns it on.”

Monks feels her success comes naturally, that playing a sport she loves simply leads to excellence.

“If you’re naturally athletic and you pick up a lacrosse stick, you’ll get it quickly,” she said. “I really, really enjoy playing. I like the competitive spirit and being on a team and the intensity of being part of a really good lacrosse program.

“Playing for Waynflete has been amazing. Cathie’s really established Waynflete as a great program. More than anything, it’s really fun. That’s the draw. The parents are just as into it as the kids are. It’s a really fun spectator sport.”

Monks is widely admired off the field as well. She also serves as a mentor with a local elementary school (the only girl on her team who works with a boy), is academically solid and always seems to have a smile on her face.

“She is delightful,” Connors said. “She wants to do her best all the time. It’s really important to her. Not in an obsessive way, but in a careful, thought-out way. She’s very intense and focused all the time, but then she’ll smile and say something so witty and funny. She’s just a good kid all around.”

Monks, who also played for Waynflete’s state championship soccer team, isn’t ready to declare a major. She does look forward to rejoining former teammate Ashley Allen (a freshman at Hamilton) and furthering her lacrosse career at the next level.

If Monks’ pedigree is any indication, the Continentals will be bolstered by the addition of a special talent for the 2010 season.

“I think she’ll be incredible for Hamilton,” Connors said. “Since she’s so intense, it’s a good program for her. She’ll do really well.”

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