RUN IT BACK: From almost quitting to changing positions, Ella Simkins returns to the backline

Photo/Mark Nash

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By Skyler RiveraSenior Staff Writer

February 17, 2021

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efore Ella Simkins became a three-year starter and one of the anchors of Syracuse’s defense, she wanted to quit lacrosse.

The Long Island “Elite” Yellow Jackets dropped the high school junior down several division teams, and Simkins thought she had no other option. She started to lose interest in the game, her mom Allison Simkins recalled. But Allison held out hope, telling her daughter to try out for a new team.

Allison saw a poster for the Long Island Top Guns and convinced her daughter to try out in a “last ditch effort.” She reluctantly did, and days later, Simkins was surprised to find out she had made the roster for what Allison described as one of the top teams in the country.

“They recognize talent,” Allison said. “And they were a huge impact on why she’s at Syracuse now, too.”

Seven years later, Simkins is a constant in Syracuse’s backline — she’s started 48 consecutive games for the Orange since her sophomore season. A switch from midfielder to defender her sophomore year, initiated by former Syracuse assistant coach Regy Thorpe, helped Simkins embrace her aggressive playing style and strong build. Now a graduate student, Simkins is back and in search of the national title that’s alluded her and the Orange for years.

“My whole sports journey has just taught me that however much effort that you put into something is what you’re going to get in return,” Simkins said.

Unlike teammate Sam Swart, who committed to play at SU in eighth grade, Simkins didn’t know where she was going to college until her senior year — before high school, she didn’t even know what sport she was going to play.

In middle school, Simkins juggled competitive swimming practice and afternoon lacrosse training. She climbed the ranks in both sports, but when pressured to focus on one, she favored the social aspect of lacrosse over swimming.

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Simkins joined the Top Guns’ travel team as a junior, two years after most of her teammates. Despite the late start, she easily fit in with the team’s culture, head coach Andrew Smith said. She was one of Top Guns’ best players, and she won a youth national championship with them after the club lost the year prior to her arrival.

“Her athletic ability and lacrosse prowess, that stood out, for sure,” Smith said. “I mean, you just watch her play. She plays with a different tenacity than most kids.”

By the end of her first season with the Top Guns, Syracuse gave her a call. Simkins’ muscular build caught Syracuse’s eye. She was recruited as a midfielder during her junior year in high school, but she didn’t commit until later that year.

But when she arrived at Syracuse, she encountered a roster already filled with midfielders of All-Atlantic Coast Conference caliber, such as Natalie Wallon. She played in five games and collected one ground ball the entire season. By the end of her freshman year, Thorpe encouraged Simkins to transition to defense.

“I said, ‘I’m down to make the shift,’” Simkins said. “And then my sophomore year, the first day that we went to fall ball practice, I started playing defense religiously and every day.”

Her athletic ability and lacrosse prowess, that stood out, for sure. I mean, you just watch her play.

Andrew Smith, Syracuse women’s lacrosse head coach

Simkins started in all 19 games for the Orange and led the team with 18 caused turnovers during her sophomore season.

While switching positions came naturally to Simkins, she had more difficulty off the field. As a kindergartener, she developed slower than her peers, Allison said, and was diagnosed with a learning disability that affected her in the classroom. Allison called it “a gift in disguise” because of how it taught her daughter to outwork others. That translated to the lacrosse field, where the sport was always an outlet for Simkins.

“I fell behind (in school),” Simkins said. “But then I started playing all different sports, and it helped me learn different skills, especially how to work hard and how to get what you want.”

After visiting Syracuse on a recruiting visit her junior year, Simkins knew she wanted to win a national championship with the Orange, she said. Syracuse has had three tournament berths in her career — first-round losses in 2017 and 2018 and a quarterfinals loss in 2019. This year, Simkins returns for her fifth season for the Orange, in search of a national championship title.

“She’s just so driven to finish out and win a national championship,” Allison said. “That’s what she wants.”

Ella Simkins transitioned from midfield to defense during her sophomore year. In her senior year she anchored the No. 1 defense in the nation. Courtesy of SU Athletics

Five years after contemplating quitting lacrosse, Simkins dislocated her shoulder after falling while defending during her junior year. Back when she was a junior in high school, she might’ve walked off the field and never returned to the sport.

But that day in spring 2019, she popped her shoulder back into place. Simkins went back to the locker room and returned to the field 15 minutes after the injury. She didn’t have an official diagnosis yet, but she still played the remainder of the game.

She got a shoulder brace later that season and followed a strict recovery and physical therapy regime — but she didn’t miss a start. She may still need surgery, but Simkins doesn’t want to miss the season. Instead, she’ll wait until after she graduates.

“I have to do everything to make sure that I can play, and that’s my biggest motivator for getting on the field,” Simkins said. “Doing those things to make sure that I can play the best that I can for my team.”

Banner photos by Will Fudge | Staff Photographer, Jordan Phelps | Staff Photographer and courtesy of SU Athletics. Design by Nabeeha Anwar | Illustration Editor and Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor.