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BearSportNews Sunday Edition– SUPPLEMENT ANDREW MITCHELL ’15

BearLaxTraxFax FEATURE Andrew Mitchell 2015

Jacksonville University’s lacrosse program recently featured its two-time Captain, Landon’s ANDREW MITCHELL ’15. As a Bear, Andrew was a captain of his three sports—football, wrestling and lacrosse. The tale is most instructive for athletes who incur a major injury and for all Bears who face substantial adversity.

THAT’S A BEAR!!!

Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges.

Amit Ray stated this in his novel Walking the Path of Compassion and if there’s one thing Andrew Mitchell thrives on, it is overcoming challenges.

A redshirt-senior defenseman for the Jacksonville University men’s lacrosse team, Andrew has conquered his fair share of adversity throughout his athletic career. A standout student-athlete and team captain in football, wrestling, and lacrosse at high school powerhouse The Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, Mitchell had suddenly found himself sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). At the beginning of his senior year. During the first football game of the season.

If you look at Mitchell now, you would never guess the six-foot, 215-pound behemoth once struggled through his senior year at Landon. “When I tore my ACL, [playing sports] was taken away from me; my whole school knew me as an athlete. A lot of people were telling me to focus on academics, but it was hard to switch my focus completely,” noted Mitchell.

 “I went through a dark period. I didn’t go to school a lot, it’s a miracle I graduated. I didn’t really know what to do; I [was fighting] with my mom a lot. That’s when I really started working out every day and I think that helped me get into that routine.”

A highly touted lacrosse recruit at Landon, Mitchell had his pick of schools after visits to Maryland, North Carolina, Georgetown, and several Big Ten institutions. Originally planning to commit to Georgetown and play for Lacrosse Hall of Fame legend Dave Urick, he reopened his recruiting process after Urick resigned in 2012. At one point, he had also considered playing football in college but that dream was put on hold after his injury. Instead, Mitchell pivoted and decided to pursue another dream – the military – and headed to Army West Point.

Fresh off his ACL injury in the fall, Mitchell headed to the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) the next summer to attend boot camp and further his rehab while getting a taste of what attending West Point would be like. It was also where he connected with a pair of future Dolphins – Pat Poulos ’19 and Jimmy Hoffman ’20.

Taking 21 credits per semester and playing a Division I sport eventually took its toll on Mitchell. While he enjoyed the lacrosse aspect, like many, he struggled to balance both sport and academics.

After returning from winter break his freshman season, Mitchell was faced with a decision: cadets are required to sign a contract before their junior year to fulfill their intentions of earning a commission as an officer in the Army.

Unsure of his future academically at West Point, Mitchell made the decision to start the transfer process. Just two weeks into the spring semester, he left West Point and landed at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia. While he had

committed to Loyola (Md.) after, he was reluctant to spend another semester at community college – a necessary step to head to Loyola.

At the suggestion of friend and former Dolphin, Zach Buller ’17 – also a Landon product – Mitchell decided to contact John Galloway, who had just been hired as JU’s head coach in the summer of 2016.

Incidentally, playing at JU wasn’t Andrew’s first taste of lacrosse in the Sunshine State. Originally born in Virginia, Mitchell moved with his family to Boca Raton in south Florida and picked up the game when he was in first grade. After heading back to Virginia in sixth grade, he joined the Great Falls (Va.) county team before his tenure at Landon, where he met Buller and another future Jax teammate – Hunter Sells ’20.

“Jimmy, Pat, and I were really close friends at West Point. When I committed [to Jacksonville University], Pat was leaving West Point also and he was looking to walk on at Towson.”

At Andrew’s suggestion, Poulos called Galloway and, a week before the fall semester of 2016 was set to begin, Pat was accepted and joined him at JU. Not long after, Hoffman followed.

“Jimmy was getting ready to sign [his contract at West Point] and wasn’t sure if that’s what he wanted to do. Pat and I said, ‘why don’t you try coming down here?’ and he did. [Former teammates at] West Point felt like we were taking kids away from them, but I’m really happy they’re both here,” added Mitchell. “They’re two guys who really understood what we went through and I’m happy they’re here. It was nice having someone new, who you also knew, with you – it made it easier.”

In his two seasons so far in Duval, Mitchell has played in 33 games, collected 36 ground balls, and caused 13 turnovers. A team captain in 2019 and 2020, he has also twice been named to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll – a recognition for student-athletes holding a 3.0 cumulative GPA or better – a turnaround from the struggles he faced at West Point.

Looking toward the future and life after lacrosse, Mitchell has plans of completing his graduate degree before joining the Navy SEALs.

“I want to stick around,” Mitchell added. “I really love this team a lot and I’m not ready to part ways with it yet. I’ll take my free time as a graduate assistant as time to get ready for the SEALs. I like to overcome challenges in my life and not just sit there and do nothing. Going through four years of lacrosse and school – not a lot of people can do that, that’s a challenge. Going into the SEALs – the attrition rate is like 75 percent. If I can do that, I can do anything. I like having to push myself, I like the challenge of it all.”

While the demanding obligations of joining the SEALs are still on the horizon, Mitchell explained how his experiences – from Landon to West Point to Jax – will aid him in his future endeavors.

“I’m more of a free-flowing guy; whatever happens, happens. I like it when things get hard and things get chippy. My whole life – just stay tough with whatever happens. Here I’ve made a ton of friends, a ton of brothers, and I’ve learned a lot about myself. Everyone, if they have the opportunity to be on a sports team in college, they should definitely take advantage of it. It really helps in the long run and teaches you about yourself.

“Things can get really bad but just don’t give up. No matter how bad it gets, it’s going to get better. JU, and especially the JU Lacrosse community, is great. The whole reason I’m here and stayed here was for the coaches and the guys that I’ve played with. There’s something special here that I don’t think a lot of people know about yet, but they will know about it.”

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