Sports lessons impact Windham grad's college academics

By Matt Pascarella

Windham 2023 graduate Logan Hirning was a football star while at Windham High School and played in the prestigious Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic. He also played lacrosse. Next year he will graduate from the University of Maine Orono with a degree in construction engineering and says he learned a lot about how leadership and discipline can lead to success in the long-term during his time playing at Windham.

Logan Hirning played football for
Windham in high school but in
college he is focusing on academics
and plays club lacrosse.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

Hirning has taken a bit of a break from sports to focus on his education but plays club lacrosse. After graduation, Hirning would like to be hired by a general contractor as a project engineer.

“Sports have always been extremely important to me and club was a perfect way to fit in sports while allowing me to focus on my academics,” said Hirning. “I chose construction engineering because of my roots within sports. Construction is a lot like being on a sports team; each party involved has their own role and responsibilities and in achieving success.”

He started playing lacrosse in the third grade and football in second grade. Hirning also played T-ball and baseball. However, he felt baseball was too slow and from then on, lacrosse became his passion. Although he decided to not play football in college, in playing club lacrosse, he’s made new friends while finding that sense of community that playing at Windham made him love so much.

When Hirning played for Windham, he said it proved to him the importance of being on a team.

Hirning has been able to maintain his scholarship while at the University of Maine Orono. He’s also achieved Dean’s List for academics each semester while balancing being vice president of his club lacrosse team.

This summer, Hirning had an internship with Consigli Construction in Portland working directly under a project manager. He worked alongside subcontractors, collected closeout documents, submitted requests for information to the architect, learned a lot and gained a ton of experience through working in the field.

WHS teammate and University of Maine Orono senior William Woolston has played alongside Hirning since they were both in the seventh grade.

“I’ve had the chance to see him grow as both a player and a person,” said Woolston. “Logan is a great teammate because he’s always encouraging the people around him and holds everyone to a high standard, including himself. He’s a strong defensive leader who communicates well, keeps everyone organized, and leads by example with his work ethic and effort. He brings a positive attitude every day, is dependable, and makes the players around him better.”

According to Woolston, Hirning is the type of person every team wants to have – Hirning is a great leader, hard worker and an even better friend and teammate.

“Some advice that I would give young athletes entering college is if you are worried about academic workload and still need that sense of community or team to look into club sports,” said Hirning. “For me it was a perfect opportunity to maintain both.”

Off the field, Hirning enjoys spending time golfing and fishing. He also enjoys spending as much time with friends and family as much as he can. <