Prized 2026 Recruits Poised to Disrupt Ivy League Order

Milki Conway-Reppert is unique in name, skill and life journey.

So is his choice of college.

A junior attackman at Loomis Chaffee (Conn.) and two-time USA Select team member, Conway-Reppert verbally committed to the admissions process at Dartmouth in September, giving the Big Green their first Inside Lacrosse five-star recruit under second-year coach Sean Kirwan.

“I wanted to go to school where I loved the school for what it was instead of just for lacrosse,” Conway-Reppert said.

His high school experience has been formative. An ankle injury kept him off the lacrosse field all last spring but helped him prioritize his college selection.

“I realized that I loved Loomis because I loved going to the school, not just for playing lacrosse,” Conway-Reppert said. “So I went into my recruiting process and that was my No. 1 goal — trying to find a school where I knew I was going to belong there just as a student and a person.”

Conway-Reppert had always viewed Dartmouth in a positive light for its distinct New England vibe that reflected his family’s affinity for the outdoors, and the school is just 40 minutes from his uncle’s house.

Still, considering his pedigree, the commitment provoked the curiosity of the lacrosse community. Dartmouth, after all, has not had a winning season since 2006 and has finished dead last in the Ivy League in each of the last 10 seasons.

Then again, Loomis Chafee was no one’s idea of a high school powerhouse before Conway-Reppert arrived on campus for the 2022-23 academic year.

“It was a great gift for us,” said Bill Ball, Loomis’ coach for last three seasons. “It certainly changed our program. It really elevated us getting a kid of his caliber.”

The Pelicans have gone from a sub-.500 team that won a total of 10 games in 2021 and 2022 to posting records of 13-5 in his freshman year and 16-2 with a conference tournament title this year in the competitive New England Founders League. They finished the season ranked 12th nationally by Inside Lacrosse.

“When I went to Loomis, a lot of people were kind of surprised, but definitely now as a junior, it's something I've never regretted,” Conway-Reppert said. “I'm super happy where I'm at, and I think what Coach Ball’s been able to do with the program is amazing. I see that Coach Kirwan has the same vision.”

No Ivy League men’s team has fewer championships than Dartmouth, and only the Big Green and Harvard have never won a conference title outright. Dartmouth shared titles in 1963 and 1965, then not again until 2003, and now are on the longest current drought of any of the Ancient Eight.

“During my recruiting process, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be part of the process again of building a program,” Conway-Reppert said. “But then when I was on one of my visits — I forget what school — one of the guys on the team actually said, ‘You go to Loomis?’ And he was like, ‘They're really good now.’ And that's when I kind of decided that I wanted to go to Dartmouth, hearing that from someone else. Three years ago, you never would have heard that.”

Lexie Gonnella had a similar revelation before she committed to Columbia, becoming the program’s first five-star recruit. Academics and post-graduation possibilities were priorities, along with the proximity to her Darien (Conn.) home, while the chance to change the Lions’ fortunes added to the allure.

“I can already sort of see that change happening,” Gonnella said. “And I think it's just a really exciting and sort of a unique thing to be a part of changing the trajectory of that program. It's a place where hopefully I can also make an impact.”

The Lions have finished outside of last place only three times since their first year in 1998, and never higher than fourth. But the Darien defender’s decision is a huge coup for fourth-year coach Anne Murray.

“It's really exciting to be able to be a part of the change that they're making,” Gonnella said. “When I was talking to the coaches, they made a very convincing pitch and shared their plan for the program. So I truly believe that it's going to turn around, especially seeing the talent they've brought in.”

Gonnella comes from a program that’s accustomed to success. Darien is so deep that, even as highly rated as she is, she hasn’t started yet in her high school career. But that background of facing highly skilled players every day in practice will help her transition quickly to the college level.

“What they get from our program, from a Darien High school player, is the coaches know they're going to be well coached,” said Darien coach Lisa Lindley, who also coaches Gonnella in club lacrosse with CT Grizzlies. “They're going to be well prepared. They're going to know how to do a particular skill. They may not have perfected it, but they have been taught how to do that.”

Gonnella’s sister, Elizabeth, is a freshman goalie at Princeton. Their father, Josh, played lacrosse at Cornell. Their uncle, Jim, was the National Midfielder of the Year at Duke in 1997.

Those are traditional college lacrosse powers. Columbia, not so much.

“It does show they're getting that talent,” Gonnella said. “I wouldn't mind if they use me as a marketing device.”

Conway-Reppert, meanwhile, sees Dartmouth as a team already on the rise. Kirwan was hired in June 2023 with the pedigree of winning two national championships as an assistant coach at Virginia. Current Dartmouth freshmen Tyler Juhlin, Spencer Reagan and Julian Navab were four-star recruits. The high school Class of 2025 includes five four-star recruits: Gordie Leary, Max Becker, Kevin Graff, George Hawley and Stu Gates. Conway-Reppert is ranked 19th in the Class of 2026, while classmates Blake Farnsworth out of St. Anne’s Belfield School (Va.) is ranked 99th. Hayden Delaney and Bryce Privateer are also four-star commits.

“We all have the same idea of bringing in great guys,” Conway-Reppert said. “Not just great lacrosse players, but great guys as well, building a tradition.”

Born with his given name Milkias in Ethiopia, Conway-Reppert was adopted and moved to New England when he was 2. He grew up in Massachusetts playing hockey, and the vision needed on the ice is something that has shown in his dynamic playmaking in lacrosse.

“A lot of coaches, when I went on my visits, they really appreciated the way I always had my head up and was looking for the next pass,” he said. “That's something I've taken into consideration when I play lacrosse as well.”

His skills advanced quickly after shifting his focus from ice hockey to lacrosse during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lacrosse in the back seat for most of my childhood,” he said.

Conway-Reppert played varsity lacrosse for Noble and Greenough in eighth grade but moved to Loomis Chaffee for high school. He played two years in the Brogden Cup with USA U16 Select as part of the USA Lacrosse National Team Development Program. Not only did he start as a freshman at Loomis, but he was the team’s leading scorer.

“What really stood out was his IQ,” Ball said. “He just saw things that other more experienced older players did not see on the field. It was clear early on that he needed to be on the field as much as possible for us to have a good year.”

In a couple years, he could be orchestrating the offense in Hanover, while Gonnella will be playing lockdown defense in Manhattan. They represent the promise of a pair of programs poised to disrupt the pecking order of Ivy League lacrosse.