All-Area Lacrosse: Parkes, Riggins use hard work to lead perfect conference seasons
All-Area Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year: Trey Parkes, Hoggard
Trey Parkes' high school lacrosse career had nearly everything, except a state championship.
The Hoggard senior is an NCLCA All-State selection this spring and the StarNewsVarsity All-Area and Mideastern Conference player of the year as the Vikings made the state quarterfinals after an undefeated regular season.
“It started with practice and teamwork and building a family around our team,” Parkes said. “Coaches pushed us hard.”
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Parkes, who has signed with Hofstra, tallied 36 goals along with 33 assists and 51 ground balls. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder is known for his versatility. He excels at attacking in front of the net and also can direct the offense from behind the net. Parkes was typically marked by a top defender from the other team.
“It didn't really affect my game,” Parkes said. “It opened things up for my teammates. Once they saw our team was good, that let me do my thing.”
The Vikings were 20-1 in the 2022 season, sweeping through the regular season and three state playoff games before falling to Cardinal Gibbons.
“Our main goal was to win the championship,” Parkes said. “Sadly, we only got to the fourth round but we still made a deep run.”
That had a lot to do with Parkes, as assistant coach Eddie Jones sees it.
“It's guys like that who are contagious to the whole team,” Jones said. “They see it and they start doing it. They want to do what he does.”
-- Mike Duprez
Mideastern Conference Boys Lacrosse Team
Honors: Player of the Year--Trey Parkes, Hoggard. Coach of the Year--Steve Baker, North Brunswick. Team Sportsmanship--West Brunswick.
First Team: Attack--Luis Gonzalez, Ashley; Brodie Deutsch, Ashley; Aiden Flynn, Hoggard. Defense--Patrick English, Ashley; Carter Osborn, Hoggard; Jaxon Biba, Hoggard. FOGO--Jeremy Conklin, Hoggard. Goalkeeper--Ben Long, Hoggard. Long-Stick Mid--Burke Tribble, Ashley. Midfield--Trey Parkes, Hoggard; Kenan Everhart, Ashley; Kyle McCarthy, Hoggard.
Second Team: Attack--Nick Nelson, Hoggard; Luke Gordon, Laney; Brayden Velasquez, Topsail; Ronan McGuire, Topsail. Defense--Mathew Luhrsen, Hoggard; Evan Corle, Hoggard; Luke Hobbs, Topsail. FOGO--Gage Thompson, Laney. Goalkeeper--Tommy Burgee, Hoggard. Long-Stick Mid--Joe Feeney, Hoggard. Midfield: Cayden Hollar, Hoggard; Carson Adkins, Laney; Eric Wagner, Hoggard.
Honorable Mention: Ashley--Zac Stalls, Anthony Blackburn, Charles Cazier, Blake Smith, Isaac Olvera. Hoggard--Charles Wilt, Reed Barden, Tyler Harris, Zack Coyle, Jake Stone, Conrad Newman, Connor Savage, Cole Luhrsen. Laney--Colin Willis, Sean Heckman, Mason Vaughn. New Hanover--Grayson Sepich, Dallas Romanowski, Addison Kamm. North Brunswick--Grant Nimz, Sloan Anderson. South Brunswick--Aidan Bailey, Skyler Swanson, Tyler Loburk. Topsail--Connor Hinson, John Meyers, Nolan Pfaff, Evan Martindale, Alex Davis, Owen Hoag, Josh Bowen. West Brunswick--Iassc Parsons.
NCISAA Division II All-State Boys Lacrosse Team
Asheville School--Ben Buxbaum. Cape Fear Academy--Cameron Arne, Jack Boggio, Owen Johnson, Baden Salinas. Forsyth Country Day--Caden Didier, Mason Ickes, Ian Kennedy, Ryan Moore, Keith Pemberton, Tommy Tessien. SouthLake Christian--Cooper Gay, Micah Handgloten, Caleb Johnston, Tyler O'Bryan.
All-Area Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year: Tatum Riggins, Topsail
Tatum Riggins ended her standout career with a flourish.
The Topsail senior scored 97 goals, was a second-team NCLCA All-East selection and the StarNewsVarsity and Mideastern Conference player of the year, helping lead the Pirates to the third round of the state playoffs.
Her reasons for success, as she tells it, are simple.
“It’s hard work and putting the time in, not just in practice,” Riggins said. “After practice, working on shots, understanding my strengths and weaknesses, watching film to see what I need to work on.”
“She’s just incredibly talented,” Topsail coach Courtney Burghardt said. “You never know how she does what she does. She's so fun to watch. She goes 100 percent all the time.”
Riggins is listed on the Topsail roster as a midfielder. But she also played attack and defense, meaning she could be all over the field.
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And that was fine with her.
“I pretty much like to do everything,” Riggins said. “I like to play defense. I like to score. I even got to do the draw a couple of times.”
Her success was part of an overall team effort. The Pirates set a school record with 19 wins and swept conference play.
“We really worked together as a team in practice,” Riggins said. “We played off each other's strengths. It was hard at first but we worked hard in practice every day, learned exactly what we needed to do.”
-- Mike Duprez
Mideastern Conference Girls Lacrosse Team
Honors: Player of the Year--Tatum Riggins, Topsail. Coach of the Year--Courtney Burghardt, Topsail. Team Sportsmanship--North Brunswick.
First Team: Ella Bartosik, Ashley; Bailey Swails, Ashley; Rylan Harris, Ashley; Emily Failla, Hoggard; Anneleise Meyer, Hoggard; Kira Eldridge, Laney; Caitlin Cronemiller, Laney; Ava Kunza, Laney; Leah Nelson, New Hanover; Taryn Ugliono, Topsail; Tatum Riggins, Topsail; Riley Nee, Topsail; Lillian Austin, Topsail.
Second Team: Annalise Saffo, Ashley; Mia Frick, Hoggard; Adriyana Garrison, Hoggard; Logan Campbell, Hoggard; Layla Cline, Hoggard; Kiarra Masnick, Laney; Emily Bothoff, Laney; Helena Cronemiller, Laney; Isabella James, New Hanover; Camille Gannon, South Brunswick; Martha Smith, Topsail; Avery White, Topsail.
Honorable Mention: Ashley--Molly Schutte Hoggard--Kajsa Andersson, Ellie Walker, Nellie Harris, Emily Cox. New Hanover--Abby Sealey. North Brunswick--KB Kelly. Topsail--Lexi Velasquez. West Brunswick--Raya Sunshine Milliken, Macie Ellen Coley, Olivia Mehalik, Montana Murray, Marisa Nance, Madeline Bland, Joelle Cerneka, Sophie Rozen.
Dan Spears is the sports editor for the Wilmington StarNews, and Southeast Regional sports editor for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at Dan.Spears@StarNewsOnline.com or on Twitter @DanSpears.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: StarNewsVarsity All-Area lacrosse: Trey Parkes, Tatum Riggins take honors
