LYNNFIELD — In the world of high school sports, a student-athlete’s senior year can be bittersweet, especially in the spring.
It’s the last time to don your school’s colors. It’s the last time to play alongside your teammates, some of whom you’ve played with since you were little. And it’s the last time you can proudly stand alongside your fellow seniors and be honored on Senior Night.
For Jack Calichman, senior year turned out to be very different from what he expected — all due to a freak injury that sidelined him for most of the year.
Calichman was coming off a record-setting season as a junior. He set single-season school records for the school’s lacrosse team in points (124) and assists (87). In 2023, he took up where he left off, averaging nearly 10 points per game with 11 goals and 28 assists, leading Lynnfield to a 4-0 record. In game five, he notched three assists early against Pentucket, but everything came to a screeching halt when he went down in a heap after taking a hit.
“I got checked in the back and I collapsed and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance,” Calichman said. “I was so out of it, I don’t even remember where. The doctors said it was a fracture of the L3 and L4 vertebrae, basically a broken back. They put me on a lot of painkillers so I was able to go home that night, but, honestly, I really don’t remember much.”
Calichman said the first month of recovery was “brutal.”
“I couldn’t do anything at all,” he said. “It hurt just to walk up the stairs. But eventually, I was able to do physical therapy. My goal was to come back for our final Senior Night game, so that was kind of cool to do that.”
With Calichman back on the field doing his thing, the Pioneers ran off three straight wins to secure a spot in the state Division 4 tournament quarterfinals, where they fell to Sandwich on the road, 15-4.
Despite playing only nine games, Calichman finished the season with 17 goals and 43 assists. MaxPreps.com ranked him No. 5 in the state in assists, trailing teammate Kelan Cardinal, who topped the list with 53.
“I’m not really a goal scorer, assists are more my game,” Calichman said. “My job is to get the ball to my guys who are open.”
A two-time Cape Ann League Kinney First Team All-Star and team MVP, Calichman finished his career as the all-time leader in points (207) and assists (139), all in just a little more than two years.
But Calichman isn’t done yet. He will be taking his game to Phillips Exeter Academy for a postgraduate year before heading to college. He was wooed by several schools, including Phillips Andover, Loomis Chaffee School, New Hampton School, and Kimball Union Academy.
“I had been planning on a PG year for a couple of years now so my injury really wasn’t a factor,” Calichman said. “The decision was mainly because I want to play lacrosse in college. All of the places I looked at have good lax programs but the school that had the most interest and most communication was definitely Exeter so I ended up knowing it was the best place for me.”
Calichman also heard from several NESCAC colleges including Wesleyan, Amherst, and Hamilton.
Unlike many athletes who think that playing a collegiate sport is their ticket to the pros, Calichman has a more grounded view of his future.
“The whole point of playing a sport in high school is to get into the best college I can. My hope is that it will help me get into a school that I might not have gotten into but for lacrosse. There is not much for me in lacrosse beyond college. I’m realistic about that,” he said.
As his final season was shortened due to his injury and what should have been his first season was canceled because of COVID, it would be easy for Calichman to dwell on what he missed. Not Calichman. Instead, he is thinking about what his underclass teammates missed.
“We had lots of injuries so the underclassmen really had no on-field offensive guidance from us,” he said. “It was a very different season for them missing that senior leadership.”
Calichman’s selflessness is no surprise to Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta, who nominated Calichman for All-American.
“Jack is one of the best athletes I have ever coached,” Lamusta said. “He is a master at his trade and is always looking to dish or serve up his teammates. His unselfish play is a model for our younger players and the way he conducts himself in the building and academically is second to none. During the weeks he was out due to an injury, he was essentially a coach and an extra set of eyes. It was great to see him use his leadership skills in this way.”
