Nearly a dozen lacrosse players from Bainbridge Island joined other top players from Washington state to compete this summer against some of the country’s top boys high school lacrosse teams in two of the biggest tournaments on the East Coast.

The Bainbridge players were part of the 2013 Team Washington Lacrosse, a program set up to showcase the top high school players in the state on a national level. Team Washington athletes are nominated by high school lacrosse coaches from across the state, and the program features the top incoming freshman, sophomore, junior and senior players.

Bainbridge members of the 2013 Team Washington program include, on the Chinooks (rising seniors), Jackson Larkin, Reed Dolese and Reynolds Yarborough; the Sockeyes (rising juniors), Max Wickline, Mike Rose and Zach Morales; the Cohos (rising sophomores), Jack Frickleton, Nate Marx and Sam Wysong; and the Chums/Steelheads (freshmen), Jackson Patrick, Max Oden, Michael Pelczar, Lucas Pedersen and Sal Iaria.

This summer, Team Washington traveled to the Under Armour Shootout, in Baltimore, Md., held on the University of Maryland Baltimore County campus.

One of Team Washington’s teams, the Chinooks, also attended Champ Camp, one of the oldest and largest lacrosse tournaments on the East Coast.

The Under Armour Shootout is known as one of most competitive summer tournaments in the country and typically attracts a long list of college coaches looking for potential recruits. The shootout was July 14-17, and Champ Camp, held on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, followed from July 17-20.

Dolese, Larkin and Yarbrough — all Bainbridge lacrosse senior captains — played for the Team Washington Chinooks at the Under Armour Shootout.

The team went 5-3 against the most elite lacrosse clubs in the country, some with virtually entire teams of Division 1 and All-American players.

Larkin, who just returned from the seven-day trip, said he enjoyed his time on a team made up of the best lacrosse athletes in Washington state.

“It was fun getting to play with players that I’ve been playing against  for my whole lacrosse career,” Larkin said.

It was also a rare opportunity to test some of the East Coast teams that are considered among the country’s best. The field included Haverford, Loyola Blakefield and Gonzaga.

The Washington team set a few of their opponents back on their heels, to be sure.

“It was a fun experience,” Larkin said. “We represented Washington state really well.”

Larkin played in every one of the 15 games during the two tournaments.

“I think I played well. It’s really nice having good players around you, and having them being able to get you the ball where it gives you a good chance to do well,” he said.

The team finished 9-6 across both tournaments, he said.

There was a bonus takeaway, too. Larkin said he finished the week of tournament play with the belief and confidence that he could play at the next level.

All said, though, the toughest part wasn’t the competition. It was the heat they couldn’t beat.

“It was 100 degrees every day, plus humidity. Playing on turf made it more like 120 every,” he said. “I had more water than I ever drank in my life.”

Other lacrosse players from Bainbridge also had a pretty impressive tournament showing this summer.

The Cohos, another Team Washington team, played in the Tri-State National Summer Lacrosse Festival. The Cohos — which include Bainbridge players Wysong, Frickleton and Marx — won the Sophomore A Championship.

The team finished 8-0 in two days of games, and the Cohos nipped the Long Island Express Piranhas 4-3 in the title game.

The tournament was held July 12-14 in West Windsor, N.J. The Cohos outscored their opponents 57-19, including a nail-biter game on the second day of the festival against the Long Island Outlaws.

The Outlaws took a 4-0 lead, but the Cohos came back to tie the contest with under 15 seconds in the game.

The Washington team won the opening face-off in overtime and scored 15 seconds later to win the game.