HELENA — Last Chance Guardians starting defenseman Landyn Lubick recently committed to play lacrosse for the Nighthawks of Northwest Nazarene University near Nampa, Idaho.
"Honestly, it just felt right," said Lubick, a senior at Helena Capital High School. "I saw what they were doing with their program and I just thought that would be a perfect fit for me."
Lubick made it official by putting his pen to paper earlier this week to play for the Nighthawks, who play in the same league as Montana, College of Idaho and Gonzaga.
“I know people talk about how they're excited to go off to college. I mean, I’ve had a great team here, so I am just kind of sad I am leaving so soon. It's gone by so fast, but I am excited to go to NNU — I think it’s going to be fun, I can’t wait," added Lubick.
Lubick first picked up the lacrosse sticks at the age of 8 thanks to his mother and fell in love with the growing sport right from the start.
“Honestly, all I remember is driving home one day, my mom asked me in the car, asked if I wanted to play lacrosse," Lubick recalled. "It was a new sport starting, so I was like, 'Sure, might as well try it out.' I’ve only played basketball at that point. Then yeah, I just decided to start and loved it ever since."
Lubick, 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, will be playing in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League where the Nighthawks come into the preseason voted third in the 2024 PNCLL Division II preseason coaches poll after a .500 overall finish last season.
“Brand new team, able to start right away and (I am looking forward) to meeting new people and just see what opportunities happen for me," Lubick said. "Then new competition, I feel like I’ll be able to push people around, see what’s going on down there, but I'm just excited to see what happens."
Before taking the college fields, though, Lubick is hoping to go out with a bang during his final high school lacrosse season.
"Thank you to my coaches and to my team, I think we're going to have a great season this year and want to finish it off strong with a championship win," he said.
