The winningest coach in Washington State high school boys’ lacrosse history (with a record of 252 wins - 57 losses) is stepping down after 14 seasons and five state titles at Mercer Island High School. Ian O’Hearn, a fixture in Washington boys’ lacrosse for a generation, goes out on top after the Islanders’ 2015 state championship victory over rival Bellevue High School. While O’Hearn is leaving the high school sideline, he will remain in the Mercer Island lacrosse community and continue on as Program Director for the Mercer Island Lacrosse Club. He will also coach Mercer Island’s 7th/8th grade select-level Black Team.

“This was the most difficult decision I’ve made in my coaching career,” O’Hearn admits. “I’ve loved everything about working with these players over the years. It’s very tough to leave. But our high school program is strong, full of talent top to bottom with great support from the community. And I look forward to focusing on the entire K-12 program and developing the younger players.”

Under his leadership, Mercer Island High School boys’ lacrosse grew into a dominant program and perennial state championship contender. In 14 years, O’Hearn’s Islander teams competed in 11 state final games earning five Division 1 titles – more than any other coach in Washington lacrosse history. In addition, O’Hearn has produced 86 All-State recipients, 14 All-Americans and more than 70 players that have gone on to compete in college at the NCAA or MCLA level – more than any other program in the state.

The schedule demands as the high school coach and Program Director ultimately required too much time away from his young and growing family. “I want to spend more time with my girls while they’re still young. At the same time, I’m grateful to be able to remain connected to the Club as the Program Director. I love working with the kids and our board of directors.” O’Hearn also plans to focus on building his growing business (Breakaway Lacrosse/Lax World, a full-service lacrosse store) and continuing to help grow and strengthen lacrosse in the Pacific Northwest, working closely with younger programs throughout the region.

With O’Hearn at the helm, Mercer Island lacrosse has seen tremendous growth and has become a model for new and younger programs to emulate across the state. When he took the reins in 2002, Mercer Island had just 35 high school players and 34 at the 7th/8th level – a total of four teams. Knowing that the key to building a perennial power is based on a strong youth program, O’Hearn quickly moved to create teams at the middle-school and elementary-school levels, establishing the state's first 3rd/4th grade teams in 2004 and 1st/2nd grade teams in 2005. Later, due to demand from the community, he started the program’s first kindergarten team in 2011. From 4 teams in 2002, the MILC now fields 12 teams, from Kindergarten through 12th grade.

In addition to starting players at a young age, O’Hearn believes that fostering connections across age groups is key to building a strong program foundation. From the beginning, O’Hearn employed his high school varsity and a few JV players to coach the younger teams. This not only helps the young kids but the older ones, too.

“When we have high school players coaching the young kids, it actually helps the older guys better understand our systems and game strategy. It helps them see the game from a different perspective and allows them to give back to this community that supports them so strongly.” O’Hearn added that he gets great feedback from parents about the connections between age groups. “The younger kids look up to the older guys and want to emulate them, and they love to come watch Varsity and JV games to cheer on their coaches.” The system helps the older players develop responsibility and the younger players look forward to practice and games. And, Coach O’Hearn says, with more kids playing, it gives us a chance to build depth in every position.

Another lacrosse innovation under Coach O’Hearn’s leadership was to take the varsity team on an annual Spring Break trip to play against powerful East Coast teams, as well as summer tournaments to prepare for the following season (in New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine & North Carolina). Traveling together bonds the team each year and also made them better. But over the years the MI teams have improved steadily relative to teams in the Northeast, defeating some historically strong programs, which in turn has put Mercer Island and the Pacific Northwest on the US Lacrosse map.

O’Hearn’s contribution to Washington lacrosse goes beyond the shores of Mercer Island. He has been an integral member of the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association as well as a founding member of the youth Greater Eastside Lacrosse League. He is also a founding member of the Washington Lacrosse Foundation and is sought out by many newer programs who are interested in implementing some of Mercer Island Lacrosse Club’s strategies to grow their own programs. Ten years ago he developed the Northwest Invitational, the largest annual invitational tournament in the Pacific Northwest attracting top teams from Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Montana, British Columbia, and the East Coast.

In 2006, O’Hearn and other coaches developed Team Washington, a regional team comprised of the state’s strongest players to compete in several summer tournaments against mighty East Coast club teams. Since then, Team WA has grown to 10 teams representing every level from grades 5-12 giving more players an opportunity to get the high-level development and competition the program offers. These tournaments expose players to a higher level of play as well as providing a showcase for prospective college coaches.

Ian O’Hearn grew up playing lacrosse in Albany, NY and played college lacrosse at the State University of New York at Albany, He became head Varsity Coach in 2002 after Jack Visco left the program. Under O’Hearn’s leadership, MI Boy’s Lacrosse has competed in 14 quarterfinals, 13 semifinals, 11 State Championships, and with their win in 2015, they have won 5 State Championships. At the conclusion of the 2010 and 2011 seasons, MI was ranked #21 & #24 (respectively), the only high school team in the Northwest to ever crack the national Top 25..