Senior Owen Ulmer – I’m Owen.

Junior Patrick May – And I’m Patrick, and this is Athletes of West.

Ulmer – Today, we had the opportunity to sit down with star lacrosse player Nolan Orr.

Ulmer – Alright, we are here with junior Nolan Orr. What sport do you play?

Junior Nolan Orr – Lacrosse.

Ulmer – Alright, so far this season, how would you describe your season overall?

Orr – This season has been really fun. We’ve had some ups and downs. We’re sitting in the middle of all [of] the teams. There [are] a few private schools that are just a lot better than us, but overall, we are probably the best public school, and as a team, we’ve gotten a lot closer this season.

May – What would you say is really your biggest highlight this year?

Orr – I think the biggest highlight of the year is honestly probably growing with the team because as a team we have gotten a lot closer, [and] last season we weren’t as close, especially [with] me being an underclassman, so this season we got a lot closer.

Ulmer – So far, what game has stood out to you the most and why?

Orr – I think last Friday, the Wentzville game [stood out to me] because it was the day before prom, and we were really close the entire game. They were up a few, [then] we were up a few. We were just going goal for goal, and it just felt really intense, and it was just a good way to start off prom weekend.

May – What was the final score of that game?

Orr – I think it was 17-18. We won.

Ulmer – What do you think your best attribute as a player is? What are you best at?

Orr – I think I’m best at putting the ball in the back of the net. We just need a few finishers; we have a lot of feeders and good team [morale], but I just feel like I’m good at getting the play done, and that helps us out.  

May – What would you say has improved for you [the] most this season?

Orr – I think just the team [chemistry] honestly has improved the most this season — for me, especially, [because] I usually get down when we lose and stuff, and I feel like this whole season I’ve kept my head up and just been grinding.

Ulmer – How many seasons have you been on the varsity team?

Orr – Two seasons, this season and last season.

Ulmer – What has been your favorite memory throughout everything so far?

Orr – I honestly just think it’s that game day feeling: just waking up in the morning and knowing you gotta go grind. Especially last season, we were a little more competitive, and we just got going. We got to compete with the top teams, we made a good run for state [and] we should do the same this year.

May – How do you stay focused for a big game?

Orr – I’d say just don’t think about it too much. Even though you know a team might be better than you or [that] it’s gonna be a super hard competition, you just gotta go out there and do what you know you can do, and you just don’t think about it too much. Don’t overestimate the teammate or the opponent; they’re just as good as you are.

Ulmer – During the offseason, do you have a training field you use to get better? Would you play on an offseason team? What do you do?

Orr – During the offseason, I weightlift a lot, and I play year-round, minus the winter, so just the fall and summer I play — and I mean I train in the winter, but I don’t play on a team.

May – What team do you play for in the summer?

Orr – In the summer, I play for a few teams. I play for Samurai and Lou Fusz and sometimes MO 22. So those are all my club teams.

Ulmer – So, with a talented senior class leaving last year and this year, what are you gonna do to keep the team good and improve as a team?

Orr – I think we should also have a pretty talented senior class. We have a lot of good players in our class, so I think we can just keep the [morale] up and teach the younger guys because we have some talent at the younger level; we just need some [development].

May – So, what advice would you give the younger players?

Orr – We just need better stick skills, I think. I think as a team we just need to hit the wall, just get our sticks a little more dialed in, maybe play some club ball in the offseason, just to have a well-rounded player. Because right now, we have a lot of athleticism; we just don’t have [many] actual lacrosse players.

Ulmer – What age did you start playing lacrosse at?

Orr – So I started in eighth grade, and I’ve been playing ever since.

Ulmer – What made you start playing and love it?

Orr – Honestly, my mom’s been telling me to play since sixth grade, but I kept telling her it [didn’t] look that fun and all this, but I finally gave it a shot in eighth grade, and I ended up quitting all my other sports for it, and it ended up being my favorite sport.

May – What motivates you to keep improving?

Orr – Honestly, I think it’s just the fact that I can go play at a higher level. I’m starting to talk to colleges, starting to feel that maybe I do want to play at the college level, so I feel like it just motivates me to keep going [because] I can get better scholarships [and] better offers. It’s just always in the back of your mind.

Ulmer – Would you say that a main goal for you is to play in college?

Orr – Yeah, right now I’m looking at a few options. I could play at a D-3 and D-2 level, or I could just go to Mizzou or another big SEC school, and they have club lacrosse, so it’s a little less competitive and a little less time consuming, but you still get to play lacrosse.

May – Who is the toughest opponent you have faced this year?

Orr – Yeah, so in the past years we have played them, but this year we played MICDS, and they just are a really tough opponent. They have a really good coach, they have a lot of D-1 commits, D-2 commits — their entire starting roster is basically committed — so they’re just a really tough opponent. It’s hard to beat them; we obviously lost, but I honestly think we have a good shot at putting up a good competition. We just need to lock in.

Ulmer – When you play teams like that, what’s the mindset going into the game? Is it like not being scared but knowing what type of team you’re playing or just focusing all the way? What do you think?

Orr – I think we just need to think we need to play our game; we can’t play into their game. Obviously, they’re gonna be really competitive, they’re gonna hit, they’re gonna be better than you guys skill-wise. If you just play your game, you possess the ball — if you’re on offense, they can’t score, so you just need to keep the ball on offense, spin the ball and just lock in.

Ulmer – What are your real goals for next season and the years after?

Orr – So, for next season, I think that we just need to develop the younger guys and have fun as a class, like it’s our last high school lacrosse season. We should have fun, but also develop the younger guys, keep it fun so that in later years they can all still have fun and be good because as a program we are pretty competitive, so we [want to] keep it that way.

Ulmer – Alright, well sounds good. Thanks for coming on, man!

Orr – Yep.

May – Thank you for listening to this episode of Athletes of West.

Ulmer – And go watch Nolan ball out on the lacrosse field.

Music credit – Memphis Overtime – Soundtrap