Leading the way...
1989-1997
Dave Lapin, currently head coach of Westlake, played high school lacrosse on Long Island and was named one of the top scorers in the NCAA Division I while attending Georgia Tech. He has played for numerous touring teams, including the Crease Monkeys and Long Island Lacrosse Club. In addition, he represented the United States at the 2002 World Games in Perth. Dave was instrumental in bringing lacrosse to Central Texas. He started the Westlake program in 1988 and was Head Coach for Westwood for eight years from 1989 through 1996 with a record of 89 wins and 13 losses (9 of those losses were in the postseason playoffs). He produced four high school All Americans and enjoyed seeing many of his players receive college scholarships and tuition assistance. He has coached numerous Collegiate All Americans, as well as players that went on to win National Championship Rings.
1997-1999
Mark Luckinbill acted as assistant coach for the Warriors in 1995 and 1996 then moved to head coach for the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Mark's background included playing as a team captain for the Denver Pioneers from 1988-1991 as well as traveling all over the USA as a member of the Texas All-Star Post Collegiate team. During his tenure at Westwood, the Warrior lacrosse program continued to grow and enjoyed continued commitment to sportsmanship and success. In 1997 Mark was selected to help coach the Team Texas all-stars in the Vail tournament. That team included four Westwood Warriors as well as a lot of talented Texas High School players from around the state. During his time at Westwood Mark was fortunate to have had Jim Mitchell as his primary assistant coach. Jim's dedication and commitment to the team helped Mark to make the decision to step down from coaching in order to focus on his growing family and career. Today, you can find Mark in North Carolina raising his family, playing some lacrosse, and focusing on his latest athletic commitment to running marathons.
1999-2004
Jim Mitchell: Head coach 1999-2004, Assistant Coach 1995-1998. Record as head coach: 90-60-4.
When Jim was named head coach, the program averaged 22 to 24 players per year, with 8 to 10 games per season, but did not enjoy a close relationship with the high school. Jim dedicated his efforts to upgrading both team and booster organizations, improving the reputation of the program and the esteem and honor of the team. Jim created a rigorous set of standards for sportsmanship and integrity, centering his program on one key concept: “respect.”
At a steady but measured pace, the team improved its’ image at the school, and more importantly, the player’s perception of the value of team and sportsmanship — playing as a varsity sport rather than an “ad hoc” club team — and the rate of participation increased. In 2000, Westwood fielded both a varsity and junior varsity program (under a single head coach), and the junior varsity program was officially sanctioned by the THSLL in 2001. In 2003, the junior varsity officially struck out on its own, naming Jon Lucius as head coach. Jon led a fine junior program with Jim as mentor. By 2004 the two programs attracted 74 young men -- a more than three-fold increase in only six seasons and the varsity program was averaging 26 games per season!
Team “firsts” during Jim’s tenure:
- Creation and sanctioning of the JV team
- Official recognition of lacrosse as a club at Westwood High School
- Establishment of the team’s first Web page
- Awarding of HS PE credit for participation in the lacrosse program
- Award of varsity letters for lacrosse
- Filming of every game (and review by the team)
- Lacrosse training program for parents
- "Coach's corners" articles to better communicate with players and parents
- Official team banquet at which the coach honored each and every player with a list of accomplishments at the end of year
And key milestones:
- Winner of 3 tournaments: Jesuit Invitational (99), Lax’n on the Red (02), Longhorn Shootout (03).
- Never lost a “Battle of the Wild West” (01, 02, 03, 04)
- Texas State tournament 5 of 6 seasons
Jim notes: “As head coach, I trained 18 Texas All-state, 7 all-division, and 4 honorable mention all-division players. We had 6 young men play for statewide all star ("Team Texas") teams. We had 1 Academic All-America and 2 runners-up, and we had 1 Texas lacrosse All-America. We also had 2 players compete for, and win, sportsman-scholar scholarships for lacrosse players.”
He adds: “My biggest accomplishment as head coach was in teaching life lessons — about sportsmanship, fair play, teamwork, dedication, commitment to excellence. Leadership was a central tenet of the program and every player was expected to not only demonstrate excellence in the sport of lacrosse, but also to actively pass along his skills and training to his younger counterparts. Lacrosse gives young men the chance to participate in interscholastic sports and to represent their school on lacrosse fields across the state. Our graduates are the best testament to the program — they leave high school with an enhanced sense of self-worth and accomplishment and a desire to compete for something they value. I am enormously proud of all the young men who played on the Westwood lacrosse team and feel honored to have had the opportunity to both teach, and learn from, them.”
2004-2006
John Maggio led the varsity through small back to back senior classes to the district playoffs in 2006. John attended UT and started all four years; in 1995, the Longhorns won the Southwest Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Championship. He helped establish and coached the UT Women’s Lacrosse team; during his 4 years with the women’s team, they never lost a league game and took the Championship at the Western States Tournament in Santa Cruz. He recently "cut back" on lacrosse to 5 days a week to spend time teaching his sons the game he loves so much.
Paul Sowada established the Westwood Junior Varsity as a premier team with consecutive winning seasons against both JV and DII Varsity teams. After playing lacrosse for the United States Air Force Academy, Paul served as a colonel until retiring from the Air Force in 1999. He settled in Austin in 2003 and helped start the LBJ Jaguars lacrosse team before he was recruited to build Westwood's JV into a strong program. Paul coached for Westlake Chaps lacrosse during the Fall 2006 season.
