For the first time the Oregon High School Lacrosse Association designated a player of the year award based on which player received the most All-American votes from coaches. Ryan Klose, junior, earned that title last Saturday adding to his other accolades: First Team All-League, First Team All-State and two time All-American. Despite being the best lacrosse player in Oregon, Klose remains humble about his achievement.

“I had no intentions of winning the award. I had no idea it even existed until last week,” Klose said. “Winning the award is cool, but I winning the State Championship with my team is a lot more special to me.”

Klose focused on winning the State Championship for the second year in a row. He played club lacrosse in the summer, practiced on his stick skills and trained in the offseason. Even with a setback of a broken thumb early in the season, Klose preserved and averaged over three goals per game against opponents.

“When I broke my thumb against Sunset in the preseason I was really bummed. I thought I wouldn’t be able to play for awhile, but I only ended up missing six games,” Klose said. “During that time I tried to help my team any way I could, whether it was advice or cheering or whatever they needed.”

When asked what attributes helped him win the Player of the Year, again Klose remained modest.

“I had a good group of guys around me so that made me succeed. I couldn’t have done it without them,” Klose said. “I tried not to be selfish and just tried to work as hard as I could for my team.”

Klose is the third West Linn high schooler this year to win a Player of the Year award. Tim Tawa, sophomore, won for football and Payton Pritchard, junior, for basketball.