KATE LOVE  

Verbally committed since her sophomore year, senior Kate Love will play division one lacrosse at Penn State University this fall.

To stay in shape over the summer and prepare for collegiate athletics, Love will train with Kevin Dilworth, the St. Mark’s strength and conditioning coach. She will also improve her stick work and attend the Penn State lacrosse camp from June 28-30.

Although lacrosse season is not until the spring, Love and her Penn State teammates will play fall ball, which is similar to the regular lacrosse season with the exception that scores do not go toward the team’s record. The teams play other universities in tournaments, which is the first opportunity to see freshman, like Love, play with their new team.

While Love is excited to bond with her future teammates, she is also anxious about the elevated intensity that comes with collegiate level sports.

“Especially coming from Texas, we already are at a disadvantage because everyone in the North plays so much quicker, and everyone’s so strong,” Love said.

However, Molly Ford, the Hockaday Varsity Lacrosse Coach, is not worried.

“She has a very special quality where she’ll receive criticism or make a mistake, but the lets it go, which is very rare within a player,” Ford said.

EMILY STALLINGS

After officially signing her letter of intent on Nov. 9, Hockaday senior and varsity lacrosse player Emily Stallings will play lacrosse at the University of Southern California this fall.

In order to meet her future teammates and maintain her skill, Stallings will attend the USC lacrosse camp from June 27-29 and play in summer lacrosse tournaments with C2C Lacrosse in Dallas.

Stallings is most excited to develop relationships and play with new teammates on the college level, but also worries about the grueling workouts and running tests. However, she believes that varsity lacrosse coach Molly Ford has prepared her for this leap in pace and skill.

“Ford has most definitely set a standard, and she pushes us to give it their all, and she likes to give us a taste of what college is like,” Stallings said.

CHELSEA WATANABE

Starting next fall, senior Chelsea Watanabe will play tennis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although she was accepted into the school through the normal admission process this year, Watanabe has been communicating with the MIT tennis coach Carol Matsuzaki since her freshman year.

She hopes to play in tournaments over the summer to prepare for the college tennis season, which begins at the beginning of September. Since Watanabe plays both singles and doubles matches, she will compete in both the individual season in the fall and the team season in the spring.

Carol Thumlert, Hockaday varsity tennis coach, believes Watanabe is ready to play college tennis.

“She is going to work hard and make the MIT Beavers even stronger,” Thumlert said.

ELLIE PFEIFFER

Signing her letter of intent on April 26, Senior Ellie Pfeiffer will swim at Colorado College next fall. She initially decided to attend Colorado College before deciding to swim with the team, and officially committed to the school after Anne Goodman James, the head swimming coach, contacted and met with Pfeiffer on March 3.

Pfeiffer currently swims with both Elite Swimming Program and Masters Swim Team, which is run by Hockaday varsity swimming coach Bobby Patten. Even though she looks forward to making new friends on the team, she is still nervous about swimming in the increased altitude of Colorado. With an elevation of 6,035 feet above sea level, it will be much harder to swim in Colorado Springs than it is in Dallas, which is only 430 feet above sea level.

Even with the trials of the sport, Pfeiffer believes that being part of a team will motivate and push her to keep trying harder.

“I think that being on a team really helps if you’re feeling down,” Pfeiffer said.

TAYLOR TOUDOUZE

Last September, senior Taylor Toudouze committed to row for the University of Michigan. Since college crew has two seasons, she will compete from the beginning of school to mid October and from April to June for the sport’s main season.

To prepare for collegiate rowing next year, Toudouze will completely change her style. Currently, she does “sculling,” where she rows with two oars in smaller boats, but next fall, she will “sweep,” with only one oar in a bigger boat.

Toudouze is most nervous about this new rowing style and keeping up with her teammates, many of whom have swept for a long time. However, Toudouze finds comfort in that her future crew teammates will become some of her best friends.

“Especially, since Michigan is a really big school, it’s exciting that I will have a few good people to be with,” Toudouze said.

TEAL COHEN

Teal Cohen will row at the University of Washington this fall, but she had her choice out of many universities. Knowing she wanted to row in college, Cohen had previously visited the University of Texas and the University of California Berkeley.

Cohen decided to row the University of Washington because it has the most successful crew team.

“Washington has historically been the best, and combined with the current team rankings and talent pool, it was definitely a program I wanted to be a part of,” she  said.

Over the summer she will train with the Dallas Rowing Club and attend the selection camp for the Junior National Team, which will decide if she competes in the Junior World Championships from August 2-6 in Trakai, Lithuania.

CECILIA MANGANELLO

Senior Cecilia Manganello, committed to Bucknell University for rowing, first began talking to the Bucknell crew coach Stephen Kish her junior year and was officially accepted into the school this March.

Over the summer, Manganello plans to row with Dallas United Crew and attend the United States Rowing Youth National Championships from June 9-11 with her DUC team.

While Manganello is excited to row with new teammates, she is also nervous about managing classes, sports and social activities.

Manganello advises that girls wanting to row in college should start talking to coaches early.

“Even if you don’t have the fastest times, but you show your progression over the years, it’s impressive see your times go down through the work you put in,” Manganello said.

Kate Woodhouse- Staff Writer