COVINGTON, Wash. – Tahoma High School’s lacrosse program has hired Rutgers lacrosse standout and three-sport New Jersey state champion Jonathan Lefferts as its boys JV coach. At Tahoma, Lefferts will lead the boys JV team while assisting second-year Tahoma head coach Brian Johnson, whose varsity squad tied for third in the Division I South Sound Conference last spring finishing the 2013 season with an 8-10-0 record. Story by Mike McQuaid.

“I’m excited to be a part of the Tahoma program,” said Lefferts, whose passion for lacrosse and blue-collar work ethic led him to a standout career as an attackman for the Big East Conference Scarlet Knights from 2010-12 after earning prep state titles in football, swimming and lacrosse at New Jersey’s Moorestown High School just outside of Philadelphia.

“We’re thrilled to have a coach of Lefferts’ level on board,” said Johnson whose lacrosse program is adding a freshman/sophomore team this spring to accommodate the some 70 student-athletes, mostly from Tahoma High School, that play the sport at the prep level in the Covington and Maple Valley communities southeast of Seattle.

“Jon has a combination of knowledge not just in lacrosse but other sports, an exceptional playing background and a passion for success,” Johnson said.

This spring, Tahoma returns 23 from its 2013 varsity roster including six members of the Bears football squad. Among them are four starters; sophomore defender Macen Granlund, a 6-0, 175 linebacker who also excels as a Bears wrestler, junior midfielders Brody Sullivan, a 5-11, 198-pound offensive guard and Joe Donahue, a 5-7, 163-pound running back that was named SPSL 4A All-League Honorable Mention this fall along with senior attackman Brennan Lundquist, the Bears’ 6-1, 232-pound center.

Combined with an already deep talent pool, it’s Lefferts’ success at the highest level of high school football and lacrosse that Johnson is looking to bolster his program’s chances this spring among the highly competitive Washington state Division I schedule.

“We are all about competition,” said Johnson who sees both returning varsity student-athletes along with those on the JV squad to go head-to-head for playing time this spring. “Jon will create that level of competition at the JV level – any of those kids on any day can earn a varsity spot.”

A competitive environment that Lefferts expects will open doors to NCAA lacrosse opportunities for Tahoma students-athletes with raw athletic talent who take on the sport.

“There are (lacrosse) teams out there at the Division I level that have won a national championship that recruit on pure athletic talent,” Lefferts said. “If you can put on a chin strap on and mouth piece in you can play ball,” he said. “And if you want to win and put in the time in this sport, you can be as good as you want to be.”

And that works for Johnson, who is as committed to winning lacrosse games at Tahoma as he is in building a foundation for young men and their futures.

“We teach much more than lacrosse,” Johnson said. “Our program is not just about winning lacrosse games. It’s about building character,” he said. “Jon not only wants to coach but to teach. That’s very important to our program.”