Zach Howell grew up on Long Island in Huntington. He had a tremendous run in both football and lacrosse. Zach graduated as the lacrosse program's all time leader in points. He was an alternate on the Long Island Empire team after his sophomore year and would win the gold medal with the Long Island team at the Empire games following his junior year in high school. Other lacrosse honors included being named the Division II Rookie of the Year as a freshman, all division and all county three times a piece, and Under Armour All American as a senior. His Huntington teams were among the best high school teams ever. The Blue Devils went 63-1 over his last three years and won state championships in 2005 and 2006. Zach was named MVP of the Suffolk County and State Championship games in 2006.
Zach's high school lacrosse career was certainly very impressive, but his football career may have been even better, as he was the Section III MVP in both 2005 and 2006 with Huntinton winning a Long Island championship in 2005. Zach would be named All Long Island and finish up number two on the Long Island all time passing yardage leader board.
Zach would incredibly have as many accolades in college at Duke University. The team made the Final Four in each of Zach's four years at Duke, including winning the national championship in 2010. They also won three ACC championships. Zach's individual honors included being named 3rd team All American, ACC All Tournament Team, NCAA All Tournament Team, USILA Scholar All American, All ACC Academic three times and the ACC Honor Roll. Zach would finish his Duke career as the University's seventh all time goal scorer (135 goals) and eleventh in points (193). He was even better in the playoffs with 25 goals and 31 points which was good for 4th and 5th on Duke's all time books. In the four years that Zach was at Duke, only Stony Brook's Jordan McBride would score more goals. Zach was drafted by the Boston Cannons in the MLL with the 46th pick. He is currently in a training program at HSBC.
We caught up with Zach and asked a few questions. Check em out:
Laxbeat: How old were you when you started playing organized lacrosse? Who were your coaches and teammates?
ZH: I started playing organized lacrosse in 1st grade- Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor had a combined PAL program at that time. All of the coaches for us growing up - Jay Howell, Frank Cutrone, Eric Askerberg- had sons on the team. My team was a group of kids from Huntington ( this was done on purpose), including all my friends that I went to grammar school with. from 4th grade through high school. We played with the same group of friends minus a few detectors that went to St. Anthony's, actually half our group went to St. Anthony's. A lot of them would end up reuniting with us back at Huntington.
Laxbeat: What do you remember most about your initial high school practices and games?
ZH: My first year on varsity, I was a freshman. I was brought up the day before the first game of the year after the JV ( comprised of my PAL teammates) had a great showing against the varsity as a scout team in practice. I was put on the second midfield with my cousin, Alex Petit, and a good family friend, Mike Laffey. Those two calmed my nerves which were paralyzingly since I only had one practice before the first game. We wound up winning that game and had a decent year.
Laxbeat: What were your best high school lacrosse memories?
ZH: My best high school lacrosse memories include winning the Suffolk County championship in 2005, my sophomore year. It was Huntington's first since the 1970s, which was a huge accomplishment and something that I watched other Huntington teams fail to do as I was growing up. It felt like a collective weight off of our shoulders, once we did it. The fact that we went on to win States was icing on the cake. My jjunior year, the 2006 Long Island championship was a great memory. We put the beat down on Garden City. Can't forget the celebrations after both State Championships.
Laxbeat: Who did you play summer ball with? How about those memories?
ZH: I played summer ball with the Long Island Metro Pilots from 7th grade through 10th grade and with the Empire team in 10th ( as an alternate) and 11th grade. The Metro Pilots had a ton of guys that ended up playing D 1 and so did the Empire teams. Those teams were great because of the friends that I made. After every game in college it seemed that I was catching up with someone from those teams.
Laxbeat: Can you tells us what it means to you to be a lacrosse player from Long Island? When you got to college, what differences did you notice between lacrosse players from Long Island and other parts of the country?
ZH: Coming from Long Island gives you the right to debate with college teammates from any other part of the country about which is the best hotbed. One thing that I noticed though, is that Long Island guys know how to play the game a lot better than others. College coaches recruit great athletes and like to build from there, but it gives you an advantage if you come in having better knowledge of the game than a guy who is as good or better athletically than you are.
Laxbeat: When you got to college as a freshman, how did you feel about the speed and athleticism of the game? Do you feel that playing at a high level in high school helped prepare you?
ZH: My freshman year in college was a rude awakening. I did not expect to play my freshman year. Our team was absolutely stacked (see the Duke 2008 roster). I felt athletically inferior to the rest of my teammates. I was in the bottom 5 in each test that we did in the fall. My advantage was that I knew the game, even if I was being thrown around by 6'7", 250 lb. defensemen (we had 2). Once we got to games and I understood the team's concepts, it was much easier than practice was. Plus I had played in big games with big crowds before so I wasn't nervous in the games.
Laxbeat: Tell us about your college experience and your best memories from Duke.
ZH: I had an unbelievable experience at Duke. Strong friendships were formed and being part of a team where I fit in, made everything so much more fun. Our football tailgates (RIP) were my best social memories. I got to see some awesome basketball games as well, the ensuing riot on campus after our Bball national championship in 2010. My best memory from college has to be winning the National Championship in 2010, Duke's first ever in lacrosse. Other lacrosse memories include beating Maryland at home in OT my senior year and I am proud of our 8-1 records against both UVA and UNC in my 4 years at Duke.
Laxbeat: What are you currently doing?
I am currently living in NYC and working for HSBC. I live with a friend from Duke and I'm having a blast.
Laxbeat: What are you doing in your down time?
ZH: My down time activities have changed dramatically since I have moved on from college to the real world. Back in college I watched a ton of TV and movies and went to sporting events on campus. Other time was spent thinking of costume ideas or making our slanted floors into a mini golf course. Now, I hardly ever watch TV because of the hours that I work. In my down time I try to work out and stay in shape or hang out with friends and be social.
What is your favorite thing to eat on LI?
ZH: My best meal on LI is an egg sandwich from the Bay Deli in Huntington. No debate there- any egg sandwich that you order will live up to the hype.
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