Southwest Orange Observer: Sports Spotlight — Ross Fournet

A multi-sport athlete at Windermere Prep, senior Ross Fournet is a familiar face for those who are a part of the football and lacrosse programs. In his last season of lacrosse, before the season was suspended, Fournet led the team in goals (33) and points (42).

When did you first get into lacrosse?

It was during seventh grade. Coach (Jojo) Marasco — my head coach — was my PE teacher and we were just playing around in PE, and he kind of asked if I would be interested in coming out. I came out and I eventually fell in love with it. Football is my main sport, but I love lacrosse.

How was your senior season going before it got suspended?

We built a lot of momentum coming off of a couple of big wins. We were all feeling fired up, and the team was just bonding — we have a lot of young guys, but we all just came together and played as one. All the young guys really stepped up, and that really helped me out with them stepping up.

What is your favorite part about playing middie? What is the most challenging part?

My favorite part is being able to clear the ball — coming off of a missed shot or our goalie is able to save it. I’m usually just right by the goal, and I’ll ask our goalie — Alex Dial — just pass me the ball, and then transition to offense. I really like running up and down the field. And I’ll say the most challenging part is being able to keep calm in certain situations, because usually I’m gassed running up and down playing offense and defense —  sometimes it is just tough being tired and fatigued.

Is there a highlight moment that sticks out to you during your time at Windermere Prep?

I would say probably sophomore year — we had a very talented team that year — and we played Edgewater. It was a back and forth shootout, but I just remembered I had six goals that game and we won in overtime. That was just a great feeling, as an underclassmen, being able to perform under pressure like that.

What are the best words you have been given about lacrosse?

Probably just Coach Marasco hyping me up before games and giving me words of advice before games. We knew our season could end eventually because of the virus, so Coach Marasco was saying, “This could be it, this could be one of your last games.” 

The last game the team played — a win over TFA — could possibly be the last high school lacrosse game for you. How do you feel about that?

That moment was pretty bittersweet now that I look back at it, because we have never beaten TFA in all of Windermere Prep history. So that was great beating them, but at the same time I look back and I think about how great of a run we had, and how we were just getting started. I believed we would have beaten every single other team that we played.

With the season suspended, what are you doing now?

I have been lifting at home every single day, and I’ve been occasionally running around my neighborhood.