SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Whether it’s stepping up in a thrilling double-overtime win on the last day of the season, juggling salads and potatoes at the local grocery or tracking down a Division I school to pursue an engineering degree while playing lacrosse, Eastside Catholic’s Cameron Cronk says it’s all about giving 100 percent.

Eastside Catholic senior Cameron Cronk has signed a National Letter of Intent to play NCAA Div. I lacrosse at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. All-in commitment that paid off last week when Cronk signed a National Letter of Intent to play goaltender for NCAA Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the NJIT program. It’s a new program and there’s an opportunity to play,” said Cronk who will be on the Newark polytechnic campus just outside of New York City when the Highlanders and coach Travis Johnson begin their second season of NCAA play on Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium for the 2015-16 academic year.

The 5-9, 180-pound keeper is one of two Crusaders lacrosse players and six student-athletes from the Sammamish school to sign National Letters of Intent last week. Along with Eastside Catholic lacrosse senior Ashley Blanton, who committed to Division I LaSalle last spring, Cronk joins the Crusaders’ Olivia Cerino (Texas Christian Univ., Equestrian), Max Hudgins (Westmont College, Basketball), Matisse Thybulle (Univ. of Washington, Basketball) and Mandrell Worthy (Montana State, Basketball) who will all move on to the NCAA level next year.

With his senior season still four months away, the Issaquah resident is looking ahead to joining a veteran NJIT coaching staff with high-level collegiate and professional lacrosse experience.

“I’m extremely honored that I am going to be able to play for Coach Johnson for the next four years and to be a part of Highlanders program,” Cronk said.

For a goaltender from often underestimated Washington state, Johnson’s a catch. Named the Highlanders first head coach last December, Johnson most recently served as first assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Division I Mount St. Mary’s after stints at Penn State, Stony Brook, Stevens Institute of Technology and his alma mater Rochester Institute of Technology. At RIT, Johnson’s deft play earned him a selection in the 2000 National Lacrosse League draft by the professional Rochester Knighthawks.

But it’s Highlanders assistant and goaltenders coach Brad Conlon, a former Princeton defensive coordinator, who in a span of just six seasons has coached four All-Americans, 27 all-conference players, two Freshmen of the Year, three Defenders of the Year, and three Goalies of the Year, that Cronk expects will be the catalyst that could help him stand tall as a premiere Division I cage-minder.

“One thing I liked about him is that he’s been coaching for a while. He’s super knowledgeable about what I need to do to improve my game,” Cronk said. “He’s going to be a great mentor for the next four years.”

Last spring Cronk, who has already won three Eastside Catholic varsity letters in lacrosse along with two in community service, saw plenty of time gaining crucial experience in goal for the Crusaders. All while maintaining a 3.4 GPA, volunteering with his hometown Issaquah Food Bank and coaching youth lacrosse.

But for Cronk’s linear mindset of studying, stopping lacrosse balls and finding the right school to pursue an engineering diploma, the some 18-hours-a-week he spends stocking and tidying grocery shelves with lettuce, potatoes and other produce at the local Safeway brings some light-hearted relief to the rigorous academic expectations at Eastside Catholic and the uncertainty of bagging an NCAA lacrosse career.

“It’s fun. I like salads because they’re already bagged,” he said with a chuckle. “Potatoes aren’t all the same size. They’re super annoying.”

Salads and those troubling spuds aside, the junior stopper finished the 2014 season in a back-up roll with an impressive .842 save percentage and 1.00 GAA in 128 minutes of play. His efforts earned two wins in Eastside Catholic’s undefeated 16-0-0 regular season and contributed to the Sammamish school’s finish on top of the highly competitive Division I Metro Conference in Washington state.

“I don’t think there’s anybody that works as hard off the field as Cameron does,” said second-year Eastside Catholic boys head coach Gordon MacIlvennie. “He gets the job done in the classroom. He gets the job done off the field. And he gets it done on the field,” he said. “Cameron’s one of the best time managers that I’ve seen at that age.”

His lacrosse results and academic focus – an engineering degree from a top-rated New York City area school, all track back to the roll model his stepfather Jeff Kelley has become.

“He’s a very successful engineer. And that’s my goal,” said Cronk who cast a wide net across schools with strong engineering programs and NCAA Division I lacrosse programs, ultimately traveling across the continent pursuing camps at suburban Philadelphia’s Villanova University and High Point University in North Carolina to drum up interest.

“NJIT fell right into place after I had contacted them a few times. But a lot of it had to do with the engineering program,” said Cronk who made up his mind after getting a taste of the 10,000-student campus just outside of New York City and its atmosphere during his official visit in mid September.

Powerful stuff for an aspiring student-athlete with a Division I career in his sights. But the real prize, Cronk says, is the prospect of studying engineering at a top school.

“It’s more having the opportunity to earn the degree,” he said. “If you do something, do it 100 percent.”

As a senior this spring, Cronk is expected to see plenty of playing time as he wraps up a prep career with the Crusaders, potentially sharing a starting job with highly touted junior goaltender Josh Matte.

“There’s no one that works harder between the pipes and on the field as Cameron Cronk,” MacIlvennie said.

It’s Cronk’s work ethic and the potential dual-threat in cage with Matte that could prove unstoppable for Crusaders opponents come spring. Something he got a taste of as a sophomore on the last day of the 2013 regular season.

“We were down 7 – 6 to Lakeside,” said Cronk who entered the game in the fourth quarter then went about delivering a shutout that deadlocked the Crusaders and Lions in a stalemate through the second overtime.

“We won it,” he said. “We could have easily taken the loss but I stepped up. It was a really good feeling that I could have such an impact on the game. If your goalie is really on fire anything can happen.”

It is that change of attitude that MacIlvennie craves in a player. And in a team.

“Cameron stood on his head in that game,” said MacIlvennie, who believes that Cronk’s leadership could carry Eastside Catholic all the way to the state title game this spring. A feat that’s eluded the Crusaders since 2012.

But Cronk knows it will have to be a team effort.

“I want to win a state championship – that’s our team goal,” he said. “We’re just going to have to work harder and take no days off. If we go the extra mile, we’ll be more successful.”