Class of 2025 New Commit: John Olenik (MA: Medfield) FOGO (6/25/25)

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/sports/high-school/lacrosse/2025/06/23/2025-usa-lacrosse-boys-all-american-team-metrowest-well-represented/84284727007/

John Olenik, Medfield​

The senior midfielder earned an All-American nod. He'll take his prodigious faceoff talent to Syracuse next season.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Hawknate144]

I read an article that he won 87.4% of his faceoffs this season against fairly strong competition in massachesetts and that he worked with 5X MLL/PLL all-star FOGO and Cazenovia Native Joe Nardella as his Faceoff Coach,

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Why is every LAX story in New England hidden behind a pay wall?

Don't they make enough money from Sam Adams?

 

[Hawknate144]

Olenik latest in long line of dominant Medfield FOGOs

mobileapp.bostonglobe.com

if you want the Globe Article from May, here is a mobile app link that for some reason doesn't force you to subscribe.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Boy you gotta love these two late pickups by the staff. The staff desperately needed to get another FOGO in here and it appears they got a hell of an under the radar guy. No idea how he wasn't committed anywhere, either that or he was a non D1 commit they flipped. Getting in two quality guys essentially a month and half before the 25s report is some coup.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

You think SU playing in a Final Four just 30 minutes from his home might have influenced him?

 

[GrowTheGame]

If you go to his public IG page, it looks like a post from 2024 indicated he was coming to Cuse for business. Must have been a great senior season that led to the opportunity in lacrosse?

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

If you go to his public IG page, it looks like a post from 2024 indicated he was coming to Cuse for business. Must have been a great senior season that led to the opportunity in lacrosse?

Are we sure he is a late pickup? He played for a State championship team in a lacrosse hotbed.

I've known some really good athletes who just decided they were not playing beyond high school. It's possible he was one of those kids but the fact that he's trained with Faceoff Academy would indicate otherwise. (There is sparse information about whether he played club though, which is odd given all the big clubs in his region).

It just seems unlikely this kid was a sleeper who just sprung up on colleges after a big senior season. He's been their starter since 10th grade. Maybe he's been committed on the down-low for a while? Maybe he had offers from lesser programs and was contemplating a post grad year and this year put him over the top?

Seems like an excellent commit though, in the mode of Mullen.

 

[PhatOrange]

What club team did he play for ?

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

What club team did he play for ?

I couldnt find anything. Another senior on his Medfield team is committed to Cornell - same thing.

 

[4evaOrange]

Very nice very nice.
Glad to have him on board.

Tremendous news.

 

[JarHeadJim]

 

[JarHeadJim]

Why is every LAX story in New England hidden behind a pay wall?

Don't they make enough money from Sam Adams?

Like Syracuse.com...AHHHHHH

 

[Ozone!]

John, welcome to Cuse Lacrosse!​

 

[JeremyCuse]

Are we sure he is a late pickup? He played for a State championship team in a lacrosse hotbed.

I've known some really good athletes who just decided they were not playing beyond high school. It's possible he was one of those kids but the fact that he's trained with Faceoff Academy would indicate otherwise. (There is sparse information about whether he played club though, which is odd given all the big clubs in his region).

It just seems unlikely this kid was a sleeper who just sprung up on colleges after a big senior season. He's been their starter since 10th grade. Maybe he's been committed on the down-low for a while? Maybe he had offers from lesser programs and was contemplating a post grad year and this year put him over the top?

Seems like an excellent commit though, in the mode of Mullen.

He is definitely a late pick up. Whether or not he was looking to play lax at the College level is certainly a question but he was not committed until just recently. Sometimes guys like him fall through the cracks, it does happen.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Especially good since I really do not think we would have been satisfied with any of the remaining portal options. Even the guys that were picked up already all had question marks besides the UVM guy. Obviously he still has to prove himself at the next level, but a 3rd string guy at Stony Brook or experienced guys who have hardly ever gone above 50% sound less promising.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

He doesn't have a recruiting profile on IL.

If he was committed somewhere else and flipped to SU, there's no way to know.

 

[JeremyCuse]

He doesn't have a recruiting profile on IL.

If he was committed somewhere else and flipped to SU, there's no way to know.

Seems like he may have been considering a post-grad year somewhere or perhaps as someone noted above he wasn't planning on playing lax at the college level as he noted he was coming to SU as simply a student in 2024 and the staff has now offered. Either way it's hard to not be a fan of this add even if it doesn't work out this is the kind of guy you want to take a chance on.

 

[Faegan]

What club team did he play for ?

Was wondering the same thing. When I was running our local lacrosse club there were definitely high school coaches who hated club teams and still wanted the local players to go through the local reg league and then go to their public high schools. Maybe this is similar? Also some parents laugh at the cost of playing on club teams, and there were other parents who would let their kids play club up until high school. Who knows.