MARCH 04, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A17
and Nike National, which will be
joining the Pacific Northwest team
for games happening over the
Summer.
“A blessing for sure to have a
great opportunity like this,” said
Donahue.
“I’ve never really thought of
making the team until I heard of
a goalie in West Albany (Ashton
Cavender) that got it,” he explained.
“I never heard of the Nike National
team until he made it and the Jesuit
coach, Bill Gleason, he texted me
about it: ‘Hey, we got this National
team and I think you got a chance
at making it’,” Donahue said as
described the opportunity to try-
out. “I gave it to him because he
told me about it. I sent him film. He
knew some guys who coached the
team and said I got a chance and I
made it.”
Not bad for a kid who still has two
seasons left of high school lacrosse
with aspirations for an opportunity
to the next level. For now, as they
went out for their six-lap-in-ten
minute conditioning challenge to
start their first practice of the sea-
son, Donahue is excited about what
is to come with the Celtics lacrosse
team this Spring.
McNary has an upperclass-
men-heavy, senior-driven team
entering this year. Donahue is
excited to see if they can grab the
North Valley League title and make
some noise in the playoffs. Coach
Litrakis already embedded the
idea of wanting to beat one of the
Portland-area teams, where lacrosse
is “king” in Oregon.
“For us, right now, we’re making
the most out of it,” said Donahue.
“We started in July with senior
practices and getting on a GroupMe
App, texting every day and saying
‘hey, let’s go hit the wall. Let’s go
have a senior practice and let’s just
go hangout, team bond. It’s going
to help us this year.”
The term “let’s hit the wall” refers
to working on your game using a
wall. Focusing on hand-eye coor-
dination, read-and-react time and
stick work – similar to a soccer
player that may use a wall to work
on shot angles and selection.
McNary opens the season Mar.15
at home against Thurston for a 6:30
p.m. game at Flesher Field.
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Kyler Donahue (white shirt, gray hat) running with teammates.
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Photo by JEREMY MCDONALD
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