As it does for many student-athletes, John Werner’s day tends to begin before 9 a.m. as the senior lacrosse player wakes up to listen to his favorite sports talk show.

“I’m pretty fortunate not to have any morning classes this semester, but I do get up at 8:30 every day to listen to the Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton radio show, which allows me to work on my homework as well,” said Werner.

Originally from Hicksville on Long Island, New York, Werner is completing his last semester at Marywood along with finishing up his final season as a defender and captain for the Pacers’ lacrosse team. This spring will mark the end of a long and successful career in lacrosse for Werner.

“I didn’t start playing year-round until high school really, but I’ve played since third grade. My entire family was big into the sport so I was always surrounded by it.”

As he goes through his fourth year of being a student-athlete at the college level, the senior marketing major is no stranger to the challenges that come along with being a student-athlete.

“Playing a sport usually adds at least four more hours of commitment a day on top of your course load. If we have an away game, it’s closer to eight hours,” said Werner. “Because of that, there are plenty of times after a late practice where I’ve wanted to just knock off for the night, but I’ve had to finish other school work first.”

Marywood’s men’s lacrosse head coach, Tyler Perrelle, said he knows the struggles that his players go through on a daily basis because he competed in Division I lacrosse for four years at Binghamton University.

“As a student-athlete it is challenging to juggle practices and school work. Trying to get as many players to practice as possible while working around their class schedules is challenging so a student-athlete must stay organized and on top of their work,” said Perrelle.

The defenseman’s coach went on to acknowledge the success Werner has had not only as an athlete but as a student and person as well.

“John is one of two captains on the team and he leads by example along with his motivational talks as a top defender on our team,” said Perrelle. “But, John is also a well-rounded young man. He is one of my main guys who talks to families of prospective players because of his easy going personality.”

Werner’s educational and career pursuits include receiving his Master’s degree from an institution overseas or landing a job in New York City.

The soon-to-be graduate credits a majority of his success in the classroom to the close-knit relationships he has formed within Marywood’s newly formed School of Business & Global Innovation.

“You often have teachers more than once so you establish personal relationships with the professors as well as the other students,” said Werner. “A lot of the kids appear in more than one of your classes so it’s a familiar atmosphere and a pretty tight community.”

When he’s not on the field or in the classroom, Werner can probably be found in the weight room or hanging out with his friends both in and outside the lacrosse team.

“I’m a very social guy so I love to be hanging out with my buddies. I’m also a big Giants, Yankees, Islanders, and Knicks fan so I follow them and listen to a lot of sports radio. I am actually a big “Jeopardy” guy too; this surprises a lot of people but I watch it whenever I can,” said Werner.

As he looks back on his playing days at Marywood, Werner said he sees the 2014 season as a whole as the highlight of his career.

While making the CSAC conference championship, Werner recalls one specific game that the team now refers to as the “Parade Day Game” in which the Pacers overcame a seven goal deficit to win the game. Werner described the game by saying, “It was bananas.”

He also says that the success the team has on the field translates to great chemistry off the field where everyone always gets along really well.

As the calendar begins to shift closer to the team’s season opener, both Werner and Coach Perrelle acknowledge high expectations for the team in 2015.

“The outlook for this year is great. The goal is to take down the big dog in the conference [Cabrini College], and win a conference championship,” Perrelle said.

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