Women's Lacrosse comes to CU

It was only a year ago that the CU Board of regents accepted the offer to join the PAC-12. Now they have passed approval on something else – an addition to Colorado Athletics.

At the beginning of this year, the University of Colorado announced its plans to add women’s lacrosse as a Division I varsity sport. This makes it the 17th NCAA sport at CU and the first addition in 16 years.

Last Monday, at the press conference, Chancellor Phillip DiStefano addressed the addition of this particular sport and why he thinks it is going to be viable for the University of Colorado athletics.

“Women’s Lacrosse at the high school level is the fastest growing sport in Colorado, and it’s much of the rest of the nation,” Said DiStefano, "Lacrosse, both men’s and women, is the fastest growing sport at the NCAA level.”

After joining the PAC 12, CU needed one more intercollegiate team, and with their Title IX commitment, they knew it would have to be a women’s sport.

The popularity of lacrosse here in Colorado and the importance of adding a women’s sport has created a lot of excitement. Athletic Director Mike Bohn commented on the decision and what it means to add a new sport to the University.

“Anytime you have an opportunity to add another team that has Colorado on their jersey, it's an opportunity for a sense of pride, an opportunity for people to come over and support that team, an opportunity for them to represent this world class university in a first class manner,” said Bohn.

The new lacrosse program was announced just a couple of months ago, creating a lot of excitement, and collecting a lot of attention. Last week at the press conference, the Athletic Department and the Chancellor announced the new head coach.

Bohn said that when the hunt for the coach began, they were looking for someone who “eats, drinks and dreams lacrosse", and by the end of that journey, they found that Coach Elliott has a “clear and dynamic vision of where we want to go", making her hands down the right decision.

Ann Elliott has been a part of five NCAA championships as both a player and as a coach at Northwestern University. Although she has achieved so much there, she has always dreamed about building a team and a program from the ground up.

In an interview, Coach Elliott was glowing with excitement. When asked about the new coach position, Elliott said that, “the ability to come out here to such a great place like CU, such an incredible institution, and build my own lacrosse program is incredible.”

There is a lot of excitement around the new coach and the program not just in the athletic department, but also among the members of CU’s women’s club lacrosse team.

Audra Horton, a captain for the team shared how much she looks forward to the Buffs having a Division I team: “Being on campus and being surrounded by athletes, let alone having another team, especially the fact that it’s a women’s team is incredible.”

Building a team from the ground up won’t happen tomorrow, but in 2014, the Buffs will take the field and play their first ever Division I game.