Sports of All Sorts: Former Greeley Star Witko Makes Smooth Adjustment to Next Level

There's always an adjustment that has to be made when making the jump from high school to college athletics. For Matt Witko, that came his freshman season on the men's lacrosse team at Tufts University.

"The main differences between high school and collegiate lax is the speed of the game and the overall stick skills of players," said the former Horace Greeley all-section standout, who is preparing to start his junior season for the Jumbos. "In high school, teams often rely on a few players to make plays and because of the level of the game, they can get by on that. In college, with a few extra years of development both physically and on the field, the emphasis is much more on team play and moving the ball to create better opportunities."

After scoring five goals in 12 games played as a freshman in 2008, the 5-foot-10, 210-pound midfielder had a breakout season last year, registering 23 goals and eight assists for 31 points.

"Since coming to Tufts, I feel I've improved my stick skills a great amount and my general feel for the game," Witko said. "My dodging skills have gotten much better as my coaches have put me in a great position to be the aggressor and attack defenses by using my athleticism."

In addition to excelling in lacrosse at Greeley, Witko was also a star running back in football and was a member of the Quakers' varsity basketball team as well.

Witko's increased production helped Tufts improve from a 9-6 season his freshman year to a 13-5 mark last year, including a 6-3 mark in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

"Maintaining that will to win and failure to accept losing is really something we have put an added stress on," Witko said. "One of our team mottos ever since I got at Tufts has been that 'Good is the enemy of great,' and we look to capture that in all of our off-season lifts and practices."

Tufts, which opens the 2010 season Saturday, March 13 at rival Amherst College, has been busy preparing to get things started.

"We're in preseason, which is one of the more exciting times of the year," Witko said. "We've all worked so hard during the offseason on the field, in the weight room and in the classroom, and now is the time where we can finally step on the field with coaches and show our improvement, so it's been a lot of fun."

Once the regular season begins, Witko and his teammates will not only be working hard to get wins, but to find any spare time.

"A typical week during the season usually involves games on Tuesday and Saturday with three-hour practices on the other days of the week and team lifts twice a week," Witko said. "Sunday is usually our rest day. Also, after game days, we watch film of our game in order to see what improvements we need to make as a team and what good things we need to keep doing well to succeed. Plain and simple, it takes up a lot of time. You have to love the grind."

Since making the switch from high school to college, Witko has not only survived, but thrived. His continued improvement has him eagerly awaiting his third collegiate season.

"My expectations for myself are to take my game to the next level, to be better than I was last year, and reach that elite level as a dominant midfielder," he said. "Of course, individual success is always a product of team success, so I first and foremost want to win both a national and NESCAC championship this year. We missed out on our first NESCAC championship last year to Wesleyan and lost in the NCAAs to WNEC, both of which have left a sour taste, making us that much hungrier."