Lacrosse Trio Honored For Success On Field, In Classroom

Hatboro-Horsham junior Caroline Hagan capped her lacrosse season with first-team All-Continental Conference honors, and she was the recipient of the Hatters’ Defensive Player of the Year award.

Teammates Nicole Beck and Julie McKay, both of whom also happen to be among Hagan’s best friends, were also both honored for their play on the field. Beck was a first-team All-Continental selection and the team’s Offensive Player of the Year, while McKay was a third-team All-Continental honoree.

That trio helped drive Hatboro-Horsham to a terrific season, which included 17 wins and a berth in the District One Class AAAA playoffs. You might think it would require the players’ undivided focus to produce those types of individual and team honors.

That thought, however, would diminish their full efforts.

U.S. Lacrosse named the trio to its 2011 Academic All-America team this month. The honor goes to a player “who exhibits exemplary lacrosse skills and excellent sportsmanship on the field while also representing high standards of academic achievement in the classroom. Additionally, the player has left her mark by making significant contributions of service to the school or community.”

“It meant a lot to me,” said McKay. “I was not expecting it. It’s nice to be recognized. I work just as hard in school as I do in lacrosse.”

While the players had to work hard individually to achieve these honors, their shared determination helped significantly.

“I am a hard worker by nature,” Hagan said. “I’m very competitive. Most of my friends take challenging classes. We motivate each other. Being such close friends, we drive each other and motivate each other.”

That motivation clearly helped on the lacrosse field, where success is easily measured on the scoreboard. Few will ever see or know the results of the work off the field, so the Academic All-American honor is all the more special.

“It means a lot to be honored in the classroom as well because that often goes unseen by many people,” Beck said. “Unless you are being recruited or actively involved in the recruiting process, most people do not know how high the academic standards are for D1 prospects, especially at some of the top D1 programs. It also shows all the effort that is put forth both on and off the field.”

All three credit being in season towards helping them maintain a disciplined schedule and achieving such success in the classroom.

“I absolutely think that by playing varsity sports and doing extra curricular activities such as student council, advisory board, etc. helps me manage my time,” Beck added. “It keeps me on a tight schedule that forces me to sit down and do my work in between games, practices, meetings, and activities.”

The Hatboro-Horsham program is in good hands for next year, which will be the second for head coach Duncan Swezey. His impressive trio of Academic All-Americans will also be captains for the 2012 season.

“These girls are indeed student-athletes that share a passion to excel in whatever they may choose,” Swezey said. “Preparing themselves to excel on the field is very similar to being prepared mentally in the classroom.”

“As a captain, I think one of my main responsibilities will be being a leader both on and off the field,” Hagan said. “We need to organize a fund raiser because we want to go to Florida. To motivate teammates at practice will be important.”

Above all else, they can serve as ideal role models for younger teammates, especially incoming freshmen who are trying to figure out how to thrive in all aspects of high school. But that is still months away; until then, there is plenty more lacrosse to play. The three, along with close friends and teammates Lizzy Carr and Courtnee Daley, will spend plenty of their vacation months on the field for summer programs Phantastix and Ultimate Goal.

Of course, academic work is never fully forgotten.

“I take AP classes, so there is school work in the summer,” McKay said. “There will be some things to work on with ACTs and SATs coming up. So it won’t be all about lacrosse all the time.”

“The respect that the coaching staff has for these girls is huge,” Swezey said. “No joke, it’s kind of like making the NFL.”

It’s a respect that has now gone beyond Hatboro-Horsham, and it extends well outside the lacrosse field.