Boys’ Latin, Maryland graduates Colin Heacock, Logan Wisnauskas reunite with Chrome of Premier Lacrosse League

Colin Heacock and Logan Wisnauskas have not been in the same locker room in nearly a decade despite playing for the lacrosse programs at Boys’ Latin and Maryland.

They finally get a chance as members of Chrome Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. The reunion is gratifying for Wisnauskas, who is three games into his rookie season.

“It’s definitely cool,” he said of reuniting with Heacock, a five-year veteran. “He’s still the same way. He’s got a good mix between knowing a good time to joke and a good time to get serious. He’s good at feeling out the morale of the team.”

When the eight-team professional tour visits Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field in Baltimore this weekend, Heacock, Wisnauskas and the rest of Chrome (3-0) will meet Cannons (1-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday to try to improve to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Wisnauskas, the 2022 Tewaaraton Award winner, is tied for second in the league in one-point goals (9) and is tied for the Chrome lead in points (11). Heacock, a starting midfielder who did not respond to requests for interviews, has scored twice. Coach Tim Soudan said both have contributed significantly to the team’s fast start.

“I think they’ve contributed in their own ways,” he said. “Colin is taking on more of a leadership role in the offense. He’s a little bit of our party starter. So he’s the initiation dodger whereas Logan is kind of at the tail end of the offense most times. I think they play completely different from each other, but I think they’ve both been a big part of our success over the last three games.”

Heacock and Wisnauskas did not play lacrosse together at Boys’ Latin in 2013, their only year together at the school. Heacock, a Catonsville resident, started on attack on the varsity team while Wisnauskas, a Sykesville resident, started on attack on the junior varsity squad.

Wisnauskas said he admired watching Heacock’s prowess on the field.

“I just saw complete dominance. He was a freak athlete,” he said. “And even better with Colin is, he’s a better person. … He cares so much about people. He’s just super outgoing, and he’ll go out of his way just to make sure that you’re doing well and stuff.”

Heacock and Wisnauskas played together on the 2012-13 varsity basketball team.

Heacock played for John Tillman at Maryland and amassed 28 goals and 17 assists as a senior, helping the Terps capture the 2017 NCAA championship — their first since 1975. Wisnauskas, who redshirted his freshman year at Syracuse in 2017, became intrigued by what he saw from Maryland and what he heard from Heacock. He transferred to Maryland that summer.

“Yeah, I talked to him a little bit about it, about the culture and stuff,” Wisnauskas said. “Talking to Colin, he said it was a lot like Boys’ Latin and how he liked the guys were together. It was really based on the culture, which you can see in Coach Tillman because his accolades speak for themselves. [Heacock] talked about how it was just an awesome program and a place where younger guys like myself wanted to be.”

Wisnauskas matched Heacock’s achievement this past spring when he led the Terps to an 18-0 record and the national title as a fifth-year senior with 61 goals and 42 assists. Having coached both Heacock and Wisnauskas, Tillman said the former is the life of the party, while the latter is the strong-but-silent type.

“I do think when you look at the core, they’re wonderful people, great teammates, leaders,” he said. “Colin is just going to be comfortable being more outgoing, and that’s just the way he is, which is phenomenal. But Logan is going to be a great teammate in his own way. There’s definitely a stark contrast between the way they impact the team, but they both impact the team in such a positive way, and they’re both comfortable with the way they do it, and I think everyone respects them because of the way they do it.”

Wisnauskas, the No. 1 pick in the PLL draft, joined a Chrome team that included former teammate and defenseman Nick Grill and Maryland defensive coordinator and defenseman Jesse Bernhardt. But according to Soudan, it’s Heacock who has taken Wisnauskas under his wing.

“I see Colin in the hallway of the hotel, and I’ll go, ‘Colin, what are you doing?’ He’ll say, ‘Waiting for Logan,’” he said. “So I think it’s just one of those things where they’re linked by their backgrounds, and I think Colin understands the value of making sure that people feel like they’re part of the family and part of the team.”

On an offense headed by midfielders John Ranagan (Johns Hopkins) and Jordan MacIntosh (Rochester Institute of Technology) and attackman Dylan Molloy (Brown), Wisnauskas is content to learn by osmosis.

“I’m just trying to be a sponge at this point in my career,” he said. “I’m just trying to listen to older guys like Mac, Randy [Ranagan], Heacock. I’m just trying to listen to those guys and take in as much as I can and learn and see what they’re seeing and listen to what they’re saying and just take it from there.”

Former Boys’ Latin coach Bob Shriver said he thinks Heacock’s and Wisnauskas’ Maryland careers have helped them maintain a strong connection.

“The people that have played there are incredibly loyal and close to one another,” said Shriver, who retired after the 2015 season. “I think it’s one of the things that makes them so successful for so many years in spite of maybe not winning more national championships. They’ve always put out a good product, they’ve always competed like crazy, and a lot of it has to do with how close the kids in the program are.”

Premier Lacrosse League schedule

At Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field

Friday

Redwoods vs Whipsnakes, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2

Chaos vs Waterdogs, 9:15 p.m., ESPN+

Saturday

Cannons vs Chrome, 6 p.m., ESPN+

Archers vs Atlas, 8:45 p.m., ESPN+