Hawkins competes in World Lacrosse Men's Championship for Jamaica

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.-- Westminster College rising sophomore Jahiem Hawkins (Huntington Station, N.Y. | Huntington) played for Team Jamaica during the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship, which was held in San Diego. The 11-day event concluded July 1 with the gold medal game, where Team USA earned a 10-7 victory over Team Canada. It was the U.S. Men's National Team's 11th title in the competition.

The World Lacrosse Men's Championship, formerly World Lacrosse Championship, began in 1967 and is an international event that occurs every four years. This year's field was limited to 30 national teams for the first time with qualifiers determined by a series of regional tournaments.

It was Hawkins' second stint playing for Team Jamaica. His first was in the summer of 2022 when they traveled to Columbia and played in four qualifying games and advanced to this year's championship. Columbia is where he met current teammate junior Gavin Jones (Henrico, Va. | Douglas S. Freeman), who played for the Virgin Islands at the time.

There are 23 players on Team Jamaica with four players coming from the Long Island area, where Hawkins resides. At the World Lacrosse Championships Hawkins has logged minutes as a long stick midfielder, a close defender a and short stick midfielder.

Hawkins shared that the pace of the game is different than at the college level; it's either very fast or very slow depending on what team they were playing. There is no time limit to clear the ball, it is a running clock unless a timeout is called, and there is no shot clock, but a stalling penalty can be enforced if the ball is held for too long.

Hawkins mother Kimberly, father Oliver and grandfather Franklin James were in San Diego to support him and his team. Along with his family, the entire Westminster community supported him and are proud of what he has accomplished.

"Being able to represent my country on this big, world stage. No matter where I am, it is always me representing Jamaica," said Hawkins when asked about the most exciting part about competing at the World Championships.

Tenth-seeded Jamaica went 4-0 in Pool D after posting victories over Germany 5-3, Switzerland 10-5, Poland 6-4 and New Zealand 10-6. Hawkins played in three of four Pool D games and caused a turnover against both Switzerland and Poland. Jamaica posted a 7-6 victory against Italy in the first round of the championship bracket to improve to 5-0. Jamaica suffered a 20-1 quarterfinal loss against second-seeded Canada before falling to Israel 8-7 in the seventh place match last Friday.

Hawkins was an Honorable Mention All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) selection after his first season at Westminster. In 17 games (17 starts), he finished with 31 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers. Hawkins added one goal and eight assists. His first collegiate goal came against Thiel College on April 15. Hawkins is enrolled in the College's pre-nursing program.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Gavin Jones: M; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#88 Jahiem Hawkins: LSM/DM; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Gavin Jones
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: M

#88 Jahiem Hawkins
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: LSM/DM

Players Mentioned

#4 Gavin Jones

#88 Jahiem Hawkins

Players Mentioned

#4 Gavin Jones

#88 Jahiem Hawkins

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