When Jarett Park started at Syracuse in 2001, he didn’t know the footsteps he was tracing. As a two-sport athlete in soccer and lacrosse, he played the same sports his grandfather, Everett, played at SU in 1946 and 1947 before leaving for World War II.

To Park, it was neat, but simply coincidental.

That’s why there was no sentimental value lost when he quit soccer this year to focus solely on lacrosse. He will start at midfield when the Orange faces Virginia (2-0) tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.

‘What I appreciate about Coach (John) Desko and the other coaches is they never said ‘boy it would be helpful if you dropped soccer,” Park said. ‘They never pressured me about quitting. I went to them and said I wouldn’t be playing soccer, and they were pleased.’

Park and his older brother, Justin, started playing soccer about 15 years ago when they lived in Barrington, Ill. Their father, Jeffrey, had to switch jobs twice during the next three years, but when they moved to Jamesville in 1987, they found a new love in lacrosse.

Jeffrey, who played football and lacrosse at Army, introduced them to the physical contact that soccer lacked and they immediately picked up lacrosse in middle school.

‘When we were real young, my friends and I used to beat (Jarett) up all the time,’ Justin said. ‘He’d be up to our knees and we used to get pretty rough.’

Park said he used to play soccer like it was lacrosse – never shying away from a check – but it was his speed that made him one of SU’s best players. As a freshman, he was second on the team with 24 points was named Freshman of the Year by Soccer Magazine. He had similar success in lacrosse as a defensive midfielder, leading the Orange (1-0) with 91 groundballs.

As a sophomore, he led the soccer team with 21 points and the lacrosse team with 78 groundballs. During his junior year, he only played in nine soccer games, but the 2004 NCAA National Lacrosse Championship that Syracuse won made a big impression on him.

‘This summer, I found myself thinking about lacrosse and the national championship,’ Park said. ‘I wasn’t thinking about soccer. It’s my last year and I didn’t want to do a mediocre job at either.

‘I wanted to finish out soccer to say I played it for four years, but that wasn’t a good enough reason. I made (the decision to quit) and I haven’t regretted it.’

So far, Park has earned himself a starting role at midfield. This year, he is playing more of an all-around midfield as opposed to the previous years when he focused on defense. Younger teammates say his leadership skills have helped them adapt to the college game, but his speed is what makes him stand out from any other player.

Several SU players said Park and midfielder Steven Brooks, who played soccer until a post-graduate high school year at Bridgton Academy, are the two fastest players on the team.

But Brooks concedes that Park is faster. ‘I think he’s going to contribute a lot this year,’ Brooks said. ‘I don’t think he lost a step (playing soccer).’

Said defender John Wright: ‘I think he’s going to notice playing in the fall has helped him greatly. I think he took what happened last year and said ‘I want to do something bigger next year.”

Park skipped out on soccer training this year, but he said he doesn’t miss the distance running the team does. He’s hoping the extra time he put into lacrosse leads to another national championship.

‘The conditioning in lacrosse would be nothing compared to what I’d do in soccer,’ Park said. ‘I played soccer a lot longer, but it’s tough not to have lacrosse as your favorite sport when you play for Syracuse.’

Published on March 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm