Nikolas Menendez Named National Boys' Player of the Year

Culver Academy (Ind.) defenseman Nikolas Menendez has been named the USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ National Player of the Year for the 2024 season.

Last week, USA Lacrosse announced regional players of the year for the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest and West. USA Lacrosse Magazine staff and writers select the regional and national players of the year with input from coaches in their respective regions of coverage.

High school honors will continue in the coming weeks with the official release of the USA Lacrosse All-American and All-Academic teams as well as the Jackie Pitts and Bob Scott award winners.

Menendez, who will take his talents to Durham and play for Duke next season, defended as well as anybody in the country, holding some of America’s top attackmen in check while racking up caused turnovers and ground balls.

He compiled 33 caused turnovers and 48 ground balls, all against a gauntlet of a schedule put together by Culver coach Jon Birsner.

“Going against guys in practice like Aidan McDonald, all those guys, they’ve helped me not really worry about how big a guy is, how fast a guy is, because I’ve been going against all different types of players and strengths and weaknesses,” Menendez said. “I was definitely excited to get after it against the best guy on the opposing team. I wasn’t too worried about it.”

He was so dominant against those top matchups that Birsner left him to his own devices.

“We kind of let Nikolas be on an island 1-on-1 because we trusted that matchup always,” Birsner said. “We’re a big team defense team, but for Nikolas, we always game plan that kind of look away and not have to worry about him because he’s going to win that matchup almost every single time, and we’re going to be a better defense because of it.”

REGIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

Northeast — Timothy Shannehan, Fairfield Prep (Conn.)
Mid-Atlantic — Brendan Millon, McDonogh (Md.)
South — Caden Harshbarger, Lake Mary (Fla.)
Midwest — Nikolas Menendez, Culver (Ind.)
West — Andrew Cook, Torrey Pines (Calif.)

FINAL USA LACROSSE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' NATIONAL TOP 25

1. Lawrenceville (N.J.)
2. Brunswick (Conn.)
3. Malvern Prep (Pa.)
4. St. Anthony's (N.Y.)
5. Haverford (Pa.)
6. Salesianum (Del.)
7. Culver (Ind.)
8. McDonogh (Md.)
9. Boys' Latin (Md.)
10. Belmont Hill (Mass.)
11. Chaminade (N.Y.)
12. Landon (Md.)
13. Archbishop Spalding (Md.)
14. Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.)
15. Fairfield Prep (Conn.)
16. Gilman (Md.)
17. La Salle (Pa.)
18. South Side (N.Y.)
19. St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.)
20. Calvert Hall (Md.)
21. McQuaid Jesuit (N.Y.)
22. Darien (Conn.)
23. Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)
24. Georgetown Prep (Md.)
25. Farmingdale (N.Y.)

FINAL USA LACROSSE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' REGIONAL TOP 10 RANKINGS

All high school boys' rankings can be accessed here.

NORTHEAST

1. Brunswick (Conn.)
2. St. Anthony's (N.Y.)
3. Belmont Hill (Mass.)
4. Chaminade (N.Y.)
5. Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.)
6. Fairfield Prep (Conn.)
7. South Side (N.Y.)
8. McQuaid Jesuit (N.Y.)
9. Darien (Conn.)
10. Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)

MID-ATLANTIC

1. Lawrenceville (N.J.)
2. Malvern Prep (Pa.)
3. Haverford (Pa.)
4. Salesianum (Del.)
5. McDonogh (Md.)
6. Boys' Latin (Md.)
7. Landon (Md.)
8. Archbishop Spalding (Md.)
9. Gilman (Md.)
10. La Salle (Pa.)

SOUTH

1. Lake Mary (Fla.)
2. Benjamin (Fla.)
3. Roswell (Ga.)
4. Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas)
5. St. Andrew's (Fla.)
6. Highland Park (Texas)
7. Westlake (Texas)
8. Green Level (N.C.)
9. Charlotte Catholic (N.C.)
10. Buford (Ga.)

MIDWEST

1. Culver (Ind.)
2. Olentangy Liberty (Ohio)
3. St. Xavier (Ohio)
4. Rockhurst Jesuit (Mo.)
5. Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.)
6. Upper Arlington (Ohio)
7. Trinity Louisville (Ky.)
8. Hamilton Southeastern (Ind.)
9. Lake Forest (Ill.)
10. MICDS (Mo.)

WEST

1. St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.)
2. Valor Christian (Colo.)
3. Torrey Pines (Calif.)
4. St. Margaret's Episcopal (Calif.)
5. Brophy Prep (Ariz.)
6. Marin Catholic (Calif.)
7. Sacred Heart Prep (Calif.)
8. Jesuit Portland (Ore.)
9. Arapahoe (Colo.)
10. Cherry Creek (Colo.)