Camillus — In the hopes of emerging from unexpected turmoil, the West Genesee girls lacrosse team has turned to a member of the extended Wildcats lacrosse family to lead the program forward.
Kevin Hennigan was named as the new varsity head coach, his appointment approved at the West Genesee Board of Education’s regular meeting last Wednesday night. At 30, Hennigan will be one of the youngest girls lacrosse coaches in the area.
Two months ago, Bob Elmer, who led WG to seven state championships and 313 victories in his 16 seasons at the helm, stepped down from his coaching and teaching duties at the high school amid controversy over alleged incidents of misconduct in the early 1990s that predated Elmer’s coaching tenure.
Once Elmer resigned, a new coach was needed, and the school district ultimately chose a man whose Wildcat roots run deep.
Hennigan attended West Genesee High School and played lacrosse under coaching legend Mike Messere, helping WG win a pair of state titles during a stretch from 2002 to ’05 when it claimed four state championships in a row.
From there, Hennigan attended Geneseo State, where he stayed on after graduation to work as an assistant coach before a stint at Rochester Institute of Technology. Then, in 2014, Hennigan returned to his alma mater to teach math at the high school.
The family ties to WG do not stop with Hennigan. His wife, the former Jacqui Griffin, is also a West Genesee graduate and was a member of two of Elmer’s seven state championship teams.
This appointment comes just two months before the start of lacrosse practices for varsity and JV teams, which comes on March 7. The regular season gets underway March 30 with a game at Honeoye Falls-Lima.
