Fairmont Senior girls lacrosse earns three All-American selections

Jun. 17—FAIRMONT — A week after many of his Polar Bears earned All-State selections, Fairmont Senior head coach Jon Cain got the news that a trio of his top performers earned national recognition.

Fairmont Senior's Aubrey Harrison, Emily Decker and Liz Amos have been selected as West Virginia All-Americans by USA Lacrosse, the three Polar Bears making up half of the Mountain State's six representatives.

"It's pretty prestigious, in my mind it's in the same caliber as Gatorade All-Americans," Cain said. "This is the lacrosse community's highest achievement awards."

States are allotted different numbers of All-American spots based on how many teams are in that state. West Virginia was allotted three Athletic All-American and three Academic All-American spots, with Harrison and Decker named Athletic All-Americans and Amos named as an Academic All-American.

For Harrison, the accomplishment marked the third All-American selection in her career, putting her in a realm of her own in West Virginia.

"This is Aubrey's third All-American," Cain said. "That's pretty prestigious. I know that Aubrey is the only girl to ever receive three, and there's only been one other girl to receive two over the years."

Harrison led the state in total points and goals scored this year, finishing her senior season with 116 goals and 72 assists, paired with 74 draw controls. Harrison also became the all-time leading scorer in the state this past season with 309 goals.

With yet more history made in her career, Harrison will start fresh at Shepherd University next year.

"I knew Aubrey was a special player since day one, and this is something she's worked hard for," Cain said. "Us as coaches, we take these awards very serious, because it represents the state and lacrosse in the state, and we want the best kids to represent. For Aubrey to get it three times is extraordinary, but she deserves everything she's got. She's worked very hard for it, she plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. With that, she's received a scholarship to play at the next level at a school that's in a very prestigious conference.

"All the hard work and dedication — she's done a lot of playing out-of-season. Almost every weekend of at least her sophomore and junior seasons she was somewhere playing lacrosse, going to a camp, trying to get better at the game. There's been a lot of miles put on cars and a lot of time put in to get where she is."

Harrison may stand as the lone three-time All-American out of West Virginia indefinitely, with USA Lacrosse possibly changing their policy so that only juniors and seniors will be eligible going forward.

Emily Decker joined Harrison as an Athletic All-American, pouring in 77 goals and 33 assists, making her the second-leading scorer in the state, and also finishing with 47 draw controls for Fairmont.

The No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the state, Harrison and Decker helped the Polar Bears to a state championship this spring. Decker, still a junior, will be back next season along with fellow All-American Liz Amos, also a junior.

"This is the first time, besides Aubrey, that we're going to have returners coming back as All-Americans," Cain said. "This is the first time ever we're going to have two All-American returnees. Emily, she's No. 2 in the state in both points and goals, and the only reason she's No. 2 is because she's behind Aubrey. She was well ahead of the next person. Her coming back, we're excited for that and if everything goes well and she stays healthy, she'll have a great chance for a second All-American look."

As for Amos, she earns her status for excellence both on the field and in the classroom. Inside the goal, the junior racked up 182 saves at a 66% save percentage, helping hold opponents to an average under five goals against her per game.

"Liz received her award as an Academic All-American, but Liz very easily could've been put in for Athletic All-American, because Liz is just a great player in the goal," Cain said. "I could've put Liz in for Athletic All-American too but, not to sound greedy, I don't think we would've gotten all three Athletic All-American spots because that's just the way the politics work. But we knew Liz had a great chance because of her grades to become an Academic All-American."

Fairmont Senior has racked up the accolades between their state championship win and many All-State selections, and with one last feather in their caps, the Polar Bears can go into hibernation until next year.

"They were excited, each girl knew we had nominated her for the award, but they didn't know what the outcome would be," Cain said. "They were all excited. We're proud of these kids, we're proud of everything they do and all the work that they put in."

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.