by Eric Meany
When coach Chris Robinson of the McDonogh School in Owings Mills recently referred to senior midfielder and Maryland recruit Taylor Cummings as the best female high school lacrosse player in the country, it seemed reasonable to check with more objective sources before accepting his opinion as fact.
Outside authorities only reinforced Robinson’s assertion, as Cummings was Lacrosse Magazine’s National Player of the Year in 2011 and is ranked as the nation’s best player in her class by Inside Lacrosse and ESPNHS.com. She was also named The Baltimore Sun’s female athlete of the year and girls lacrosse player of the year after a junior season in which she scored 65 goals and had 15 assists in 19 games for McDonogh.
The Eagles have won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland’s A conference championship in each of Cummings’ three years with the team, and they enter the 2012 season riding a 51-game winning streak. Their local dominance has been recognized nationally as well, as Lacrosse Magazine named McDonogh the number one high school girls team in the country in both 2010 and 2011, and has them as the preseason number one for 2012.
A three-sport athlete who was part of the McDonogh soccer team that won conference championships in 2010 and 2011, Cummings told the Varsity Sports Network that lacrosse has only recently become her primary athletic focus.
“I’ve played soccer since I was little, and when I first started soccer I thought that’s what I wanted to play in college,” Cummings said. “Then I fell in love with basketball, and lacrosse was the last sport I actually picked up. But I just love the speed of the game, I love the intensity of it. I think it’s the most fun for me personally, and I felt that lacrosse would just give me great opportunities in college.”
Offers to play college lacrosse were plentiful for Cummings, who ultimately decided to join the 2010 NCAA champion Terps.
“The recruiting process was really stressful,” Cummings said. “I remember just getting those emails and not even knowing where to begin. Eventually it started to dwindle down and I got between Maryland, Duke and UNC. And I fell in love with Maryland’s coaches, Cathy Reese and Lauri Kenis and Quinn (Carney), they are amazing. I fell in love with the campus and I loved that it was closer to home . . . I feel like it’s a good fit for me.”
At Maryland, Cummings will be joined by attacker Halle Majorana of Manhasset High School in New York, ranked as the number two recruit in her class by Inside Lacrosse magazine, and Bryn Boucher, a midfielder from the Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. Local recruits Alice Mercer from Century in Carroll County, Molly Fleming from Marriotts Ridge in Howard County and Caitlin Crouse from St. Mary’s in Annapolis round out the group of high school seniors who have committed to play for the Terps next year.
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