1 / 4

River Buechner of Skyridge prepares to attack the goal in a game during the 2022 season.

2 / 4

Skyridge's River Buechner (8) makes a run toward the goal against Corner Canyon in a Region 4 girls lacrosse game in Lehi on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

3 / 4

River Buechner of Skyridge (8) wins the draw against Mountain Ridge in the 6A girls lacrosse state title game at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

4 / 4

River Buechner of Skyridge battles Analise Anderson of Mountain Ridge at the draw during the 6A girls lacrosse state finals at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman on Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Randomly, Skyridge girls lacrosse star River Buechner is really good at bear crawls.

Most athletes cringe at the mention of that difficult conditioning drill, but Buechner gets teased by her teammates for her prowess.

Just stack it up alongside everything else she’s good at and call her the 2022 Daily Herald Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year.

Buechner, who won the award in 2021 as well, helped lead the Falcons to the 6A state title game with some pretty dazzling statistics. She scored 78 goals and handed out 26 assists for 103 total points. She converted an impressive 84 percent of her shots but where Buechner really shined was on the draw, where she had 91 draw controls that regularly jump started the Skyridge offense.

“There was a lot of pressure on her to perform well every single game,” Falcons coach Collin Gill said. “I think she deals with it really well. What I love about River so much is does really well both on and off the field. Academics are huge for her. She has a lot going on so to stay composed at a high level regardless of what’s happening shows just how well she balances everything.”

After losing its opener to 5A power Park City to open the season, Skyridge won 18 straight games and earned the No. 1 seed in the 6A tournament, finally falling to No. 2 Mountain Ridge 11-9 in the championship game.

“Honestly, the season was so much fun,” Buechner said. “We had a really big group of seniors and our goal was to win state. It’s tough when you have just one bad game and it happens to be the state title game. But I don’t think about that game. I think about winning a nail biter against Olympus and all the practices and games that were so much fun. I loved playing with Haven (her younger sister, a junior) one more time. We have one more summer tournament together and we’re really excited.”

River Buechner also played soccer, basketball and gymnastics in her younger years but it was lacrosse that won out.

“It was the most fun and I fell in love with the sport,” she said. “There’s a lot of running and it’s really fast like soccer. Defense reminds me a lot of basketball. Some of the best friends I’ve made growing were in lacrosse. I always knew I was going to go far with lacrosse. I knew if I wanted to be one of the best I had to spend extra time doing it.”

River Buechner has a busy summer ahead, including playing in a World Cup lacrosse tournament in Maryland with her sister. River will play lacrosse at the next level for Division III power Pomona-Pitzer College in California, moving in to her new digs on August 20. Pomona-Pitzer started the 2021 season 18-0 before falling to Tufts College in the Division III Sweet 16. Tufts went on to play for a national championship, losing to Middlebury (Vermont) College.

“I think River is in a really good spot,” Gill said. “She’ll do well with her character and her work ethic. She’s really skilled and I think she’ll find her place pretty early on. It’s a good Division III program and she’ll learn a lot from her coaches and teammates. There will be an adjustment period for sure, but she’ll crack that pretty quick and catch on.”

River Buechner said she’s working in building up her endurance and to that end is training with one of her Skyridge teammates for a half-marathon, even though the race is in September and Buechner will be in Pomona by then.

“I’m working on my left hand for shooting and passing,” she said. “I’m going to practice and train on my own. A lot of my friends are picking college classes right now, but at Pomona you wait until you get there and and advisor helps you adjust the schedule to you. I plan to study computer science or cyber security. I’m really excited to go to college and can’t wait to get there.”

Newsletter