Girls Lacrosse, Girls Soccer: Evergreen Stars’ Success Just Part of Being Friends

AURORA – There has to be something in the water in Evergreen.

Certainly there must be in the 10-house stretch of a residential street that includes the homes of lifelong best friends Ryn Gardner and Gianna Weiner.

And it must extend to the home of Nadia Leunig, who is a whole 3-minute drive away.

Weiner and Leunig (girls soccer) and Gardner (girls lacrosse) are all CHSAA Players of the Year in their sport, and they are all attempting to lead their teams to a third straight state championship.

How else can you explain it? The odds of that much talent in that close of proximity seem astronomical.

“It’s really super cool,” Gardner said. “Most of my friend group either plays lacrosse or is on the soccer team. It’s really fun to see both of us having the same success at the same level at the same time.”

Perhaps just as impressive as the individual exploits of Evergreen’s star players is that there are no players who are playing both sports for the Cougars. Two entirely separate groups of players are carving out their niche at the 4A level – which is the smaller of two classes for lacrosse and the second biggest of four classes of soccer in the CHSAA system.

“To have two sports having success like this is incredible,” lacrosse coach Rachel Sanford said. “A lot of the girls teams at Evergreen have had success, so it’s cool to be part of it. … (Coach) Peter Jeans and the soccer staff have been there, so when you have success year over year, it helps you have a more established culture within your program. But you also have to come back to the athletes and the work they are doing.”

Evergreen has won 27 girls state championships in seven different sports. That includes 12 in the last 10 years — besides lacrosse (three) and soccer (two), Evergreen girls have won state titles in swimming & diving (five) and basketball (two).

Right now, lacrosse and soccer are in the limelight.

“I’d be lying to say that it didn’t drive me, and the (soccer) players,” Jeans said. “When they win a championship a few days before your game, it’s human nature. I want to match that. I think it drives both programs.

“Obviously we’re all pulling for each other to do well for Evergreen.”

These programs, and others at the school, support one another.

“We have strong athletics for a school our size,” Leunig said. “And it’s awesome to see different sports teams coming out to support each other. Because it’s a smaller town, it’s easy to just pop down to the high school to see what’s going on.”

Growing up, Weiner and Gardner tried one another’s sport before moving on.

“Lacrosse didn’t go very well for me,” Weiner said. “(Gardner) played on my soccer team. … She wasn’t bad.”

Said Gardner: “I pretty much started playing lacrosse because I hated soccer. … I just couldn’t get into it.”

Leunig moved to Evergreen about sixth grade, and the combination clicked.

“We’ve always been friends,” Gardner said. “Especially in (middle school), us three would hang out every day.”

The lacrosse and soccer seasons are in full swing, with postseason play set to begin on May 5. The state championship games for lacrosse are May 15 at the University of Denver, while the soccer title games are May 19 (3A, 4A) and 20 (2A, 5A) at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.

The Evergreen soccer team is currently 6-1-3, good for eighth in 4A in CHSAA’s selection & seeding index.

Leunig was the 4A Player of the Year two seasons ago, while Gardner captured the same honor after last season.

“Getting player of the year back-to-back never created any bad blood between us,” Weiner said. “I’ve never felt we were competing to be better than one another. We push each other in practice to be better, but that’s a different kind of competition – pushing each other to be better. We both understand that for our team to be the best it can be, working together is key.”

The Cougars have played a tough schedule once again, opening with ties against Northfield and Windsor and falling to Ralston Valley as part of a 2-1-2 start.

“This season is mirroring some other seasons we’ve had,” Jeans said. “Two years ago we were a pretty low (No. 14) seed (for the postseason), but I knew what kind of team we had. We have two players who ski competitively (including Leunig) and we have a lot of players who do different sports, and we do have difficulty getting off the ground because we’re missing a lot of players.

“And we also schedule a lot of very difficult teams that are bigger schools – the games are competitive, but we’re challenged because they have depth that we don’t have. But we’re starting to turn a corner and we’re in as good or better position as we were the last two years.”

Weiner, a Kansas recruit, leads the team with eight goals and 20 points, while Leunig, who will play soccer and ski at St. Michael’s (Vt.), has a team-best six assists and is tied for third with 14 points.

“I think we’re beginning to build a lot of really good momentum,” Leunig said. ” … The start of the season was definitely challenging in terms of getting into our rhythm. But I think as of recently we’ve started to develop a good system that is working for us. As we get into our bigger conference games, I think it’ll be a good test to see how it holds up in higher intensity matches.”

Weiner had 18 goals and 20 assists last year and for her career has 42 goals and 36 assists for 120 points. She also plays basketball, and averaged 4.7 points and just over two rebounds, assists and steals per game last season. Leunig had 18 goals during her player of the year campaign as a sophomore and has career totals of 47 goals, 28 assists and 122 points.

“The most competitive players are in some ways the most challenging to coach,” Jeans said. “These two play at very high club levels, and the players surrounding them at the club level are of equal playing ability to them – and on a high school team that is not the case. So it’s challenging for them. But they are dream players to coach because they’re difference-makers. They’re the kinds of players who can decide matches that are otherwise even. They score the big goals.”

While Weiner and Leunig are dual threats in soccer, Gardner – a Colorado recruit – has 38 goals so far this season (25 more than any of her teammates). For her career she has a stunning total of 302 – 93 last year, 91 as a sophomore and 80 as a freshman. She’s also played basketball, and averaged 6.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.9 steals as a senior.

“She’s the ultimate finisher,” Sanford said. “She scores a lot of goals for us. She helps lead our attack. She’s instrumental on the draw. She brings a fierceness to both sides of the ball. And as great of an athlete as she is, she’s an even better person. She’s a great leader, a great communicator, and she really connects with all the players on our team.”

Like the Cougars’ soccer team, Evergreen has played tough competition early in its attempt to three-peat, opening with losses against Kent Denver, Fairview and Colorado Academy (all in the top seven in 5A) before winning five of six. At 5-4, the Cougars are No. 4 in 4A in the CHSAA selection & seeding index.

“It was definitely a rough start, but I don’t think it’s because of our team by any means,” Gardner said. “We played good teams and with a new team like ours, it was tough. But you can see, when we play other 4A teams, that we’re right there and that we’re going to be a tough team to compete with.”

Said Sanford: “Every year feels a little bit different. So when you bring back a dominant offensive player, people say, ‘You have Ryn, (so) you have everything.’ But we did lose a big supporting cast, but … some others have really stepped up. They’ve embraced the bigger roles and more playing time and are really helping us.”