JSerra Athlete Honored as All-American

Joey Kimpler's recently concluded JSerra athletic career received yet another accolade.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound midfielder was among six area athletes bestowed with All-American honors by the Orange County Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse last week.

That's on top of finishing his third All-Trinity League lacrosse season and earning recognition as the school's "Male Athlete of the Year" for a second time.

As the league’s 2011 Offensive Player of the Year, he helped lead the Lions to the Division 1 Southern Section lacrosse playoffs, where the team was ultimately beaten by Huntington Beach. Along the way, Kimpler scored 35 goals and dished out 13 assists, while collecting 93 groundballs.

“He’s always been a kid who just worked hard,” said his father, Joe Kimpler IV. “Joey is a gifted athlete, but his attention to conditioning is what sets him apart. He works all year round.”

The dual-sport standout, who graduated last month, spent the last four autumns playing football for the Lions and was an avid participant in the program’s off-season workouts. His natural athleticism progressively improved as he grew older, but the year-round strength regimens enabled him to develop a physicality in both sports.

“Off-season training for football made a big difference in my style of play,” Kimpler said. “I gained confidence through football with the improved strength, which made me a better hitter and all-around athlete.”

He added: “I carried the physical mentality of football onto the lacrosse field with me every day and I think it gave me a real edge."

Kimpler believes the duality of his athletic accomplishments at JSerra helped put him on the radar of various college recruiting programs. In 2010, he became the first Lions football player to eclipse the 1,000 yards rushing, churning out 1,083 yards on the ground and scoring 10 touchdowns.

When spring rolled around, he was a leader and top producer for JSerra’s lacrosse team and earned “Male Athlete of the Year” honors at a school that features numerous athletic standouts, including baseball catcher Austin Hedges, who was selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of June’s Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Kimpler received the same honor as a sophomore, but injuries cost him half his junior football season and hampered him throughout the following lacrosse season. Although his collegiate lacrosse dreams remained intact, the truncated fall campaign left him on the outside looking in when it came to football recruiting.

“I was definitely ready to make the most out of my senior seasons after the injuries,” Kimpler said. “It was a disappointing junior year because I felt like I was ready to make some noise on the football field. I think all the games I missed scared off college recruits, so I had to prove myself all over again.”

Kimpler initially verbally committed to play for Mesa State College’s Division II lacrosse program in Colorado. However, a dedicated off-season and a strong showing at national camps gave him the opportunity to play for the University of Maryland, a team that ranks third in NCAA history with 10 National Championship appearances.

Although lacrosse has rapidly made strides in California, the sport’s roots reside east of the Rocky Mountains.

“Everyone knows the best lacrosse is out on the East Coast,” Kimpler said. “I wanted to play at the best program possible and become a student at a big campus that cared about the sport.”

He’ll have that chance this fall when he heads to College Park, Md. Kimpler will be approximately 3,000 miles from home, but his family agrees the sacrifice is worth it.

"Joey is going to need to work his way up the food chain in order to get playing time at Maryland,” his father said. “He could have been an immediate contributor at Mesa State, but he’s determined to succeed at the highest level. I've helped coach him his whole life so it’s extremely important for us to make it out there as much as possible. Plane tickets aren’t cheap but we’ll schedule a few trips to make sure we see him in action at the next level.”