Newport Beach’s Campbell Case earns All-American honors in high school girls’ lacrosse

Campbell Case has the talent in girls’ lacrosse, but she also lives in Southern California in a sport that is still East Coast dominated.

That did not stop Case, a Newport Beach resident, from receiving a big honor this week.

Case, who plays attack and recently graduated from St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, was named an Under Armour Girls’ Lacrosse Senior All-American.

She was the only girls’ player who lives west of Illinois to make the 44-player team.

“It was definitely a dream come true,” Case said. “I was really excited about it. I had played in the underclassman tournament that they offer leading up to it, so I had been able to represent the West team. But finding out that I actually made the senior games was a dream come true.”

Case, who is bound for Johns Hopkins University, would have been on the South roster for the annual Senior All-America Game in Maryland originally scheduled for Saturday, but it has been canceled due to COVID-19.

“I’m definitely happy that West Coast lacrosse is getting some recognition,” said Case, whose older brothers, Mason and Davis, each played soccer at Corona del Mar High School and UC Berkeley. “There’s been some absolute athletes coming out of Orange County and the West Coast.”

Newport Beach resident Campbell Case helped St. Margaret’s win two U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section titles.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Case was a four-year starter at St. Margaret’s and helped the Tartans win back-to-back U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section titles in 2018 and 2019. The sport was set to transition to an official CIF Southern Section sport with championship playoffs this spring, before the season was canceled because of COVID-19.

As a junior, Case scored 31 goals in just 12 matches for St. Margaret’s, despite missing time in the middle of the season with a left ankle injury.

First-year St. Margaret’s coach Mollie Stevens said she appreciated Case’s work ethic, and her leadership on a younger Tartans team this year.

“She’s just the most positive player and an amazing teammate,” said Stevens, who was a four-year starter at the University of Florida and earned All-American honors as a senior captain in 2017. “We had a lot of first-year players on St. Margaret’s this year, and she was kind of like a player-coach. The girls weren’t afraid to ask her questions, either. I mean, it’s pretty intimidating when you have a player like Campbell Case on your team, and she was just so welcoming and friendly and really helped those first-year players grow.”

The Tartans (1-2) played just three matches this spring, but Case scored seven goals in a 13-9 win over Westlake Village Westlake on March 4.

“I’m from Maryland, so I’m used to big lacrosse states around me, but we’re just at such a big disadvantage out here now until it continues to grow,” Stevens said. “But I’m so excited that she got [All-American]. She’s so deserving. It’s really nice to see that she was recognized the way she should be, and wasn’t just pushed off the map because of being a California girl.”

Case hopes to play for Johns Hopkins as a freshman next spring. The university announced Thursday that it will offer only online classes to undergraduates this fall, due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

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