By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Jared Reinson knows that Player of the Year honors generally go to the guys with the lofty offensive stats.
Because of that, Reinson was caught a bit by surprise when the New Jersey Lacrosse Coaches Association voted the Montgomery High defender as its Toni Bristol Award winner as the state’s Player of the Year.
“It is a special honor for me as a player because it shows that with a lot of hard work you can get somewhere,” said Reinson, a senior who will play at Johns Hopkins University next year. “It also goes to the fact that we have a great team and I have great teammates. If we were 4-13 I don’t think I would be in conversation. I just like doing whatever I can to help the team.”
Reinson, who played in the midfield when he was younger, never lost his great stick skills when he made the switch to using a long pole as a defender. And even though he was a defensive player, he finished the season with 13 goals and 16 assists while helping the Cougars to a 17-6 record and a Group IV state championship.
“I thought it was pretty incredible when I found out I had won the award,” Reinson said. “Usually when they pick a Player of the Year it is more of an offensive award. To be recognized as a defender is a huge honor. I have to thank my coaches and teammates for helping put me in a position to be able to be recognized like this.
“I just did what I had to do game in and game out. I tried to play good defense and if I was on the wing on a faceoff I’d try to get every ground ball I could.”
One year after falling in the Group IV final to Bridgewater, the Cougars captured the state title with a win over Ridgewood. Montgomery fell to Pingry in the quarterfinals of the Tournament of Champions, but that couldn’t put a damper on what the team had accomplished over the last couple of seasons.
“After losing to Bridgewater by one goal last year in the final we made a promise that day to ourselves to be in the same spot this year and wind up with a different outcome,” Reinson said. “We set out to do that. We had more experience this year and we did what we had to do. We had some great players on offense who shared the scoring. We were very balanced on attack and in the midfield.”
While Reinson was named the Player of the Year, the Hun School’s Chris Fake was named the Dave Pooley Award winner as the Best Defenseman. Local Mercer County official Byron Conover was named the Official of the Year. Montgomery senior Danny Engels joined Reinson and Fake as three of the 19 players from New Jersey to earn All-America status.
“When I was younger I just wanted to play middie,” Reinson said. “As I got older, first my dad put a long pole in my hand and then for my club team I mostly played long pole. I guess you could say I had better stick skills for a long pole. I always enjoyed playing with my brother (Josh) and my friends in the back yard. It helped my game more being able to carry the ball.”
The next stop for Reinson is Johns Hopkins, where he will join one of the nation’s elite programs.
“Once I got my lifting packet and started getting ready it hit me that the next chapter is here,” he said. “I have to start getting ready if I want to succeed at the next level.”
