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J.P. Forester Named Warrior Sports 2013 Michigan High School Lacrosse Player of the Year
J.P. Forester Named Warrior Sports 2013 Michigan High School Lacrosse Player of the Year
J.P. Forester, a Senior Attackman at Birmingham Brother Rice High School, was named as the inaugural winner of the Warrior Sports Michigan High School Lacrosse Player of the Year Award. The contest and award, which is sponsored by Warrior Sports and hosted by State Champs! Network, recognized Forester as the state’s top Boy’s High School Lacrosse player this year in the announcement on this morning’s State Champs! High School Sports Show on CW50 Detroit and WOTV4 in Western Michigan.
Forester won the award over fellow finalists David Stafford of Mattawan, Connor Ward of Clarkston, and Brother Rice teammate Sergio Perkovic. Forester and Perkovic helped lead another strong Brother Rice team to its ninth straight Division 1 State Championship this season. Since Lacrosse became a sanctioned MHSAA sport in 2005, Brother Rice has won every Division 1 State Championship and had not lost a game in the state of Michigan in 11 years. They also won the two previous state finals prior to Lacrosse being an official sport with the MHSAA, marking their current steak at 11 straight State finals victories.
Forester finished as the top goal scorer for Brother Rice with 70 and was 2nd overall in points with 92. He scored a goal and an assist in Brother Rice’s State Finals victory over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern/Eastern and finished 4th in online voting for the award (6,617 votes) to make it to the contest finals. Forester will take his talents to Virginia in the Fall to play lacrosse at Division 1 Richmond.
“I think this is well deserved. J.P. was the highest scorer on the team and was an extremely hard worker” said Brother Rice Assistant Coach Ajay Chawla. “The ultimate test of the player of the year is stepping up in the biggest games, and J.P. had his best performances against some of the best competition.”
“Brother Rice is far and away the best lacrosse team in the state. Arguably, J.P. was the best player on the best team this season. The criteria we use to determine our champion gave J.P. the ultimate upper hand. This was a very tough decision, but we think we got it right.” said Lorne Plant Executive Producer and Host of the State Champs! Network.
“It’s so hard to pick just one player, but J.P. had a phenomenal season. We could have had 30 guys up for this award, but if you break down the quality of teams Brother Rice faced this season, and J.P. still scored 70 goals, that’s impressive. He stepped up time after time.” said Sean Baligian of the State Champs! selection committee.
“I was excited just to be a candidate, but to win it is just awesome. All of the guys in the running this year are deserving, for me to win, it’s just great. 11 state titles and 11 straight years of not losing in Michigan, what an incredible tradition and I’m so thankful to have been a part of that. ” said Forester.
“It certainly is an honor and a privilege for Warrior to have our name on this award.” said Dave Dixon, Chief Marketing Officer for Warrior Sports. “The sport of lacrosse is rapidly growing across Michigan and we’re happy to be a part of that. I think J.P. was a very deserving candidate, and we congratulate him for winning.”
Warrior Sports and State Champs! Network also extend congratulations to David Stafford of Mattawan who won the fan voting segment of the contest with 9,502 votes. Candidates received a total of nearly 40 thousand votes in this season-long competition.
Warrior Sports is one of the sporting goods industry’s premier manufacturers of innovative, high performance, cutting-edge equipment, headwear, footwear and apparel for lacrosse, hockey and soccer athletes of all ages and abilities. Founded in 1992 by former champion lacrosse player David Morrow, and headquartered in Warren, Michigan, Warrior Sports was acquired by privately-held New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc in 2004 and continues to expand its lineup of award winning equipment and apparel utilized by pro, college, high school and grade school athletes. For more information, please visit: http://www.warrior.com/.
STATE CHAMPS! Network is a full service media company dedicated to producing professional, high quality sports and high school media productions, feature shows and programming that promotes higher education through athletic achievement in the arts and sciences. STATE CHAMPS! High School Sports Show, the 3-time Emmy-award winning high school sports show, airs on Sundays at noon on CW50 Detroit, 11:30 am on WOTV4 in Western Michigan, and is rebroadcast across the state throughout the week on Comcast Television – Channel 900. For the latest high school sports shows, news and features visit www.statechampsnetwork.com.
