LYNN — After her senior year, St. Mary’s star lacrosse goalie Payton Quirk is taking her talents to a school close to her heart — Endicott College.
For Quirk, Endicott is like an extension of her home. Her Father, Sean Quirk, the current Cannons Head Coach of the Premier Lacrosse League, had coached lacrosse at Endicott for years.
“I grew up going to Endicott just seeing the campus and getting to know it, and as I have grown up there, I went for visits and met with the coach and the players. It just kind of felt like family to be there,” said Quirk.
Lacrosse is something that has run in Quirk’s family and something she has grown up with since she was young. Not only is her father a coach and former college player, her brother Kaden also plays at St. John’s University in New York.
Throughout her years of playing and being around the sport, Quirk says she eventually knew she wanted a future in lacrosse around her first or second year at St. Mary’s.
“Obviously, with COVID, it was really hard to play in the high school season, but going into my club and playing with the higher level girls and just being really committed to it just really made me want to play and have a future with it,” said Quirk.
Years down the road, after her playing career ends, Quirk could follow in her father’s footsteps and pursue coaching.
“I think that I would want to be a coach, specifically a goalie coach. That is what my dad does; my brother is getting into coaching, so I think that it really motivates me to do that when I am older, and I think that Endicott’s program is so strong that I just want to be in the community,” said Quirk.
Not only will Quirk pursue lacrosse, but she will also study Exercise Science. “I am really strong about working out and eating healthy and all that stuff, so I think that Endicott has a really great program for that,” said Quirk.
Although her athletic and academic career at Endicott is a year away, Quirk is still looking forward to getting her start there.
“I am really excited to be at a higher level for lacrosse and do what I love and get to that point at Endicott and just be where I grew up and just get to see it from a different perspective,” said Quirk.
For now, Quirk will focus on her final season at St. Mary’s, where she has been named a captain. She hopes to grow even more with her team and sharpen up her skills against good competition.
Academically, Quirk will be exploring subjects this year that align with her major to get a head start and learn more about what she wants to do at Endicott.
Regarding how important it was to her to be able to pursue lacrosse collegiately, Quirk said, “It was really important because I kind of wanted to figure out what I was doing later in my life with lacrosse. I grew up playing lacrosse and always wondered what it would be like to play on that level.”
