Payton Randle has skills on a lacrosse field that can’t be taught.
The recently graduated Durango High School student translated her ability into 57 goals the last two seasons, and that caught the eye of college coaches. Included among Randle’s suitors was Sarah Kellner, the head coach at Regis University in Denver.
Randle had attended Regis camps, and she knew she wanted to become a Ranger. Thursday, she made it official by signing a National Letter of Intent to play women’s lacrosse for Regis.
“I had it in my mind for awhile,” Randle said of Regis. “I definitely wanted to go there for awhile.”
The attacker scored a team-high 31 goals and added three assists her senior season under new head coach Katie deButts. She didn’t miss a beat from her junior season, when she scored 26 goals and had three more assists on a talent-laden squad coached by Jenni Darlow.
While scoring all those goals, Randle has been highly accurate, scoring on more than 50 percent of her shots.
“Payton is a really elusive player that can get around defenders,” said Darlow, who coached Randle her first three seasons at DHS. “When she starts to practice with the Regis team, she’ll only improve.
“But with some things you can only be taught so much. She has it naturally.”
Randle, daughter of Erin and John Randle, was a four-year varsity player for the Demons. She was named to the Mountain League All-Conference first team after her senior season.
She called it her greatest moment as a high school player, but looked back on her only playoff trip as a freshman and said it instantly made her hungry to play in bigger games.
She’ll get to play in plenty of them in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Regis won the inaugural RMAC tournament in 2014 and finished second to nationally third-ranked Lindenwood in 2015.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity at Regis, which is always one of the best Division II programs,” Darlow said.
She turned down another RMAC team, Colorado Mesa University, in favor of Regis.
Randle plans to study biology on the strong academic campus in Denver.
“I definitely am excited and ready to take it to a new level,” Randle said. “It will be really fun and something new, and I’m ready to be taken to a higher level.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
