Leesville Road High School Men’s Lacrosse named a new head coach on Thursday, Sept. 11, according to Jack Rogers, Leesville athletic director.
“LRHS is very excited to announce the hiring of former East Chapel Hill coach, Franklin Zirkle, as their new head varsity mens lax coach,” said Rogers in a statement on Thursday.
The coach will be Franklin Zirkle, a former East Chapel Hill head coach.
Zirkle was able to win a state championship in 2006 and was the state runner-up in both 2005 and 2011. In his years coaching at East Chapel Hill, a perennial powerhouse, he compiled an .815 win percentage — 128 wins out of 157 appearances. That’s pretty impressive for any single person.
Zirkle has a long and successful history in lacrosse, both playing and coaching.
He grew up in Virginia, attending Guilford College and playing lacrosse for three national championship teams. In 1984, he joined the coaching staff at Guilford and went on to beat local lacrosse powerhouse Duke in the final game of the 1985 season. Other than just coaching, Zirkle was a well-respected official and reffed three consecutive NCHSAA lacrosse state championship games.
He then took the job at East Chapel Hill in 2005 and took his teams to another two state championship games in ‘05 and ‘06, making that five straight state championship games in which Zirkle had been a part of.
And as if that wasn’t enough of a resume, Zirkle then decided he would found a program called the Carolina Hilltoppers. The league has grown tremendously in past years and hosts many Leesville Road lacrosse players.
The new job should be a great fit for Zirkle, since the Pride have been able to make it to the state playoffs the past two years and boast a 2014 conference championship in a competitive triangle area.
It is unknown at this point when Zirkle will be formally introduced to the team, but for any additional information on LRHS lacrosse, can stay with The Mycenaean for updates or go to the Carolina Hilltoppers Website to view more info about Zirkle.
