Navy men’s lacrosse senior Jackson Bonitz recently chatted with PressBox about his path to McDonogh, serving as 2023-24 Captain of the Captains at Navy and more. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound defenseman picked up 39 ground balls, caused 22 turnovers and posted 3 points in 2023, which marked his second consecutive first-team All-Patriot League campaign. Bonitz is a native of Shrewsbury, Pa., and graduate of McDonogh.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Jackson Bonitz: I actually played baseball growing up pretty young, and my parents got bored of watching me trying to swing a bat. Lacrosse was starting to get popular in the area, and they switched me lacrosse. I really didn’t make that decision. I think I was 6 or 7. Got into and really just enjoyed the fast-paced game. I think once I got to probably about fourth or fifth grade was when I realized this is probably [my sport] and I started going to college lacrosse and I really got into it and loving the sport and wanting to be the best I could at it.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
JB: I’d have to probably say my Baltimore Breakers club coach, [Brent Johnson]. He actually recently passed away. He was one of the most influential people for me just really loving the sport. He was my coach for three or four years and really just made all of us young kids love the game and love playing with each other and love being with each other. He definitely [made] a big impact on me in enjoying the sport and not making it a chore. I really enjoyed coming to practice for him.
PB: It’s not a far drive, but why did you choose to go out of state for high school and attend McDonogh?
JB: I was in eighth grade playing club. We knew nothing about the private school scene. When you’re in seventh, eighth grade, the big question is, “Where are you going to school?” Especially since most of my teammates were from the Maryland area. My parents told [other parents] I’m going to my public school in PA. A bunch of the parents from my teammates that I played with told my parents, “This kid can’t go to a PA public school and play lacrosse. He needs to go to a private school. It’s going to give him so many more opportunities.” I went on a couple visits. I think I only visited Boys’ Latin and McDonogh. They were able to make it work for me, tuition-wise, with [our] financial situation. I was lucky enough to go to McDonogh.
PB: What are your favorite memories from your McDonogh days?
JB: I did football, wrestling and lacrosse at McDonogh. I really loved football. Wrestling was just really good for me, so I did that. We played in the [lacrosse] championship my freshman year, which was crazy for me as a 15-year-old coming from just playing club a summer ago to playing an MIAA championship game where every kid on the field is committed to a D-I school. That was pretty amazing for me to play at Homewood Field and have that experience.
PB: Why did you choose to go to Navy?
JB: I chose to go to Navy because I had a feeling it would definitely challenge me more. I was originally committed to Penn State my freshman and sophomore year of high school. That seemed great early on. I just knew I wanted to be around people that were motivated, disciplined people and have really good mentors and getting to serve your country as well.
PB: What is your service selection?
JB: I got Navy Pilot, so I’ll be heading down to Pensacola toward the end of the summer or early fall for flight school. The aviation community, the people I’ve been around, that made me gravitate toward that selection. My great-grandfather was in the Navy. He was on ships. I don’t really have any family ties or anything to the military in general that really brought me in. But once I got here, it definitely made me want it even more and understand everything that you get to do and hopefully will get to accomplish in the fleet.
PB: What is your favorite memory at Navy so far?
JB: The recent thing I can think of is probably service selection. When we got our service selection back in November, you’re with all your best friends and everything’s kind of led up to this moment, everything you’ve done at the school. You figure out what you’re going to get to do for the next five-plus years. That was pretty cool to have six of my really good friends on the team get Navy Pilot as well and two of my other best friends, saw what they got.
PB: You won a gold medal with the USA Lacrosse U21 squad in 2022. What was that experience like?
JB: That experience was probably the coolest thing that I’ve ever done. I was surrounded by not only the best players at my age but great guys, great coaches. [It was] an amazing experience. Making the team alone was amazing for me and amazing moment for me and my family. And then getting to go over to Ireland to represent the USA is a feeling like no other. Winning on top of that, it went as you dream it to go. It was amazing.
PB: You are Captain of the Captains at Navy. What does that mean? What kind of honor is that?
JB: Every year all the team captains and upcoming company commanders, the summer before our senior fall semester, we all go to Gettysburg for [what] I would describe as a leadership retreat. It brings everyone together. We do some learning and teaching and we’re with a bunch of very highly respected military and non-military people who mentor us. We go through classes together, have a lot of conversations. In that process, they bring all the captains together, which I believe there’s a total of just over 40 captains on the Yard. There are 33 varsity sports. We have a conversation about who wants to be the Captain of Captains, which is a representative of all the captains within the Brigade chain of command.
You have to vouch for yourself if you want that position. I think there were maybe six, seven or eight of us that stood up. You have to say why you wanted the position. It was just a vote from there from all 40 captains. We all voted on each other [regarding] who would be best for the position. I was lucky enough to [earn the position]. It’s been great for me. It’s put me in positions where I’m not super comfortable, which I’m grateful for, and learning how to speak in front of people. Also getting to represent and do things for the other captains in the Yard, getting to know them better. It’s been great for me. I’ve learned a lot.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Annapolis?
JB: I love Annapolis in the warm months, which we’re [fortunate] to have a lot of. Everything’s so tight. The city of Annapolis is beautiful, being able to go for a short walk and you can get from restaurant to restaurant. The water’s beautiful. If you’re lucky enough to go out on a boat, you can go to a sponsor’s house and do whatever. I love how it’s all so close together.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
JB: My best friend on the team, I’d have to give it to Dane Swanson. We went to high school together and we’re roommates now at the Academy, so we’ve been together. We’ve been close for a while now. Living together has definitely helped. I would just say living together, being together every day, seeing each other every night is something that has just slowly evolved into a really strong connection and us trusting each other and treating each other like brothers, to an extent. I don’t know if there’s a specific underlying event that caused that, but I think it was just a slow accumulation of a lot of moments together, being together in great times in a season and tough times in a season as well, whether that be lacrosse or tough schoolwork or other tough things we have to do here at the Academy.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Navy?
JB: Down the defensive end, I would probably say Nick Franchuk. He was a senior when I first got here. He was a great leader for me. I thought he really took care of me and brought me into the team. He was one of the co-captains while I was here. He went Special Warfare for his service selection. [He is] one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met, but also [one of] the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Definitely someone I look up to, still think about and try to [model myself after].
PB: What advice do you have for younger players in the recruiting process right now?
JB: Take your time. At least when I was in high school, it was a rush to get committed and if you weren’t committed, people were asking questions why. I wouldn’t change what happened to me, but I would say if you’re not committed and you want to play college lacrosse, work as hard as you can and good things will happen. Take your time. Try to think about what you want in the future, but honestly you probably won’t know. Some people my age still don’t know what they want to do. I think things happen for a reason. Work hard and it’ll all work out, I would say.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
JB: I’m heading down to Flight School, so I want to be the best pilot I can be after here. I want to find a new passion after lacrosse is all said and done and find something to do because I’m going to have probably a lot more free time than I’m used to, so hopefully that I really enjoy, something else to work toward.
Photo Credit: Phil Hoffmann/Navy Athletics
Issue 285: February/March 2024
Originally published Feb. 21, 2024