Chilliwack’s Connor McNeill is a national champion.
The 16 year old joined 20 BC boys in Longueiul, Quebec, last week for the Canadian Field Lacrosse Championships.
Playing at the U-16 level, McNeill helped his team to a 3-0 record in group-play. McNeill and company started off swatting their arch-rivals from Ontario 11-7.
Game two saw them edge the Iroquois Lacrosse Association 14-13 in sudden death overtime.
Game three was a laugher, a 23-1 rout of Alberta that left McNeill’s crew first in the Red group.
In their first playoff game, Team BC played Quebec in a one-versus-four matchup. Team BC demolished the hosts 16-2, setting up a gold medal match with Ontario.
Team BC blitzed Ontario in the early going, taking a 6-1 lead just five minutes in.
They led 12-6 through three quarters and cruised to a 14-9 final.
McNeill was originally supposed to fill the lefty attack position for Team BC, but ended up playing midfield.
The only local lad in the tournament, he scored one goal and added a handful of helpers as Team BC won for the third year in a row.
McNeill also won a silver medal in 2011, representing BC at box lacrosse nationals.
He played for Team Talon at the U-15 US National Championships in Florida last summer, placing fourth out of 26 teams.
The Chilliwack secondary school student and Chilliwack Mustangs product will be heading south in November.
McNeill has been invited to a recruiting tournament in Baltimore, where he’ll strut his stuff in front of 100+ collegiate coaches.