Christian Cook (born June 3, 1975 in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

) is a retired professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

defenseman who last played professional

field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact sport, full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initiall ...

with the

Washington Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balt ...

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff f ...

(MLL). He starred as a member of the

Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse The Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse team represents Princeton University in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse play. Princeton currently competes as a member of the Ivy League and plays its home games at the Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton, New ...

team from 1995 through 1998, where he earned

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) lacrosse defenseman of the year award, two

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

(USILA) All-American recognitions (one first team), four

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

championships, and three national championships. As a professional he has been recognized as the Major League Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year and been a member of Team USA at the

World Lacrosse Championships The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a ...

. He was twice named to the

Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game is the all-star game of the MLL. Years 2000s 2001 The inaugural 2001 All-Star Game, was titled the Major League Lacrosse LacrosseStar Game. From 2001–2003, the All-Star Game had the National Division playing ...

and has been a member of an MLL

Steinfeld Cup The Steinfeld Trophy was a trophy given annually to the winners of the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) championship. The trophy is contested in a 4-team playoff where the top teams (based on regular season record) compete in a single-elimination format ...

championship team.

Background

Cook was a high school All-American lacrosse player at

Denver East High School East High School is a historical public high school located in the City Park neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system, and is one of four original high schools in Denver. The ...

College career

He anchored the defense of the teams that were led on offense by the record-setting trio of revered attackmen

Jesse Hubbard Jesse Hubbard (born September 18, 1975) is a former professional lacrosse player who played professional box lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and professional field lacrosse in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL). Background Hubbard st ...

, Jon Hess and

Chris Massey Christopher Todd Massey (born November 21, 1979) is a former American football long snapper. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Marshall University. He has also played ...

. He was awarded the 1998

Schmeisser Award The William C. Schmeisser Award is an award given annually to the NCAA's most outstanding defenseman in men's college lacrosse. The award is presented by the USILA and is named after William C. "Father Bill" Schmeisser, a player and coach for John ...

as the best NCAA

defenseman. He was a first team

USILA All-American Team The USILA All-American Team is an honor given annually to the best American men's college lacrosse players at their respective positions by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. The first USILA All-Americans were named in 1922, a ...

selection in 1998 and third team selection in 1997. He was also first team All-Ivy League in 1997 and 1998. The 1995 team, which earned the school's sixth consecutive NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship invitation, was Ivy League co-champion, while the 1996–1998 teams were 6–0 undefeated outright conference champions. These undefeated league champions won the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships, becoming the first team to threepeat since

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

from 1988–90 and the first to be recognized to have done so without an NCAA scandal since

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

from 1978–80. He was a co-captain during his 1998 senior season. Cook was named to Princeton's All-Decade team. In one game as a senior, he held the Ivy League's leading scorer, Mike Ferrucci of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, scoreless. In the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament semifinals he held the nation's leading scorer

Casey Powell Casey Powell (born February 18, 1976) is a Hall of Fame American former college and professional lacrosse player from West Carthage, New York. In 1998, he graduated from Syracuse University, where he was a four-time USILA All-American. Powell was ...

without a goal in the 11–10 victory, but he was injured and had to sit out the finals on

crutches A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

. He was named to the All-tournament team nonetheless.

Professional career

Cook played with the

New Jersey Pride The New Jersey Pride were a men's professional field lacrosse team in the Major League Lacrosse formerly based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States from 2001-2008. Franchise history In 2001, the first year of the league’s existence, the Pr ...

during the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

through 2003 MLL seasons. The Pride traded him to the

Baltimore Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

for a second round draft choice in the 2005 Collegiate Draft. He then played with the

from

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

through

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and stayed with the franchise when it became the

for the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and 2008 seasons. Cook was part of the Bayhawks' 2005

MLL Championship team. He is a two-time Major League Lacrosse All-Star. Cook missed four games of the 2006 season due to participation in the World Games. At the 2006 World Lacrosse Championships, he was one of four Princeton athletes on Team USA.

Personal

Cook has worked for the

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...

and

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

. He competed in the

AAU Junior Olympic Games The AAU Junior Olympic Games'' are the pinnacle competitions held annually by the US Amateur Athletic Union. Overview The AAU Junior Olympic Games are known as the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States. It has become t ...

in skiing in 1990. Cook was named to the Colorado Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003. His sister, Lauren, played lacrosse at

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the son of Gary and Diane Cook. He earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Politics from Princeton University and his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. Christian and Lauren have founded Play for Parkinson's Lacrosse after their mother was diagnosed with early stage

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

References

External links

Washington Bayhawks Player Bio

Washington Bayhawks Official Website

US Lacrosse Men's Team Bio

Christian Cook Highlight Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Christian 1975 births American lacrosse players McDonough School of Business alumni Lacrosse defenders Living people Major League Lacrosse players Major League Lacrosse major award winners New Jersey Pride players Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse players Chesapeake Bayhawks players