Herkimer Men's Lacrosse

The Program

The sport of lacrosse has deep roots at Herkimer County Community College. Two hundred years after the first recorded game of lacrosse was played in Herkimer, NY, the first lacrosse team was formed at HCCC by Tom LaPuma in 1976. Four years later, Cortland graduate Paul Wehrum took over the program.

Wehrum coached the men's team from 1980-2003, winning 21 consecutive NJCAA Region III championships and eight national titles. Coach Wehrum guided his teams to 59 straight wins setting a collegiate record featured in Sports Illustrated for this accomplishment. Coach Wehrum was the assistant coach for the 1998 USA World Team, winning the Gold Medal in the summer of '98 in what is still considered to be the greatest lacrosse games ever played.

In 1996, Scott Barnard, a captain of Herkimer's first undefeated national championship team in 1992, was hired as an assistant coach responsible for defense. Barnard helped Wehrum lead the 2003 team to a national championship. He then took over the reigns as head coach in 2004. Barnard led the 2005 team to a national championship, the ninth national title for the men's lacrosse program. In the fall of 2006, Barnard moved on to head coach of the men's lacrosse program at Hamilton College.

In the fall of 2006, former Herkimer lacrosse standout Rich Dommer replaced Barnard as head coach. As a student-athlete at Herkimer, Dommer was named the 1999 NJCAA National Attackman of the Year and was a First-Team All-American. He went on to play lacrosse at Adelphi University, where he received a bachelor's degree in physical education and health studies and a master's degree in sports management. At Adelphi, Dommer was captain of the 2001 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II national championship team. While working on his master's degree at Adelphi, Dommer was an assistant coach there. He was later a professional lacrosse player with the Toronto Rock Lacrosse Organization in Ontario, Canada, where he was a National Lacrosse League (NLL) World Champion. He also served previously as an assistant coach for the HCCC men's lacrosse team in 2004.

National Champions: 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2005

Regional Champions: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 ,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004