Goal Oriented
Carolyn Hancock is a self-described girly-girl, but on the lacrosse field those attributes don’t apply. “If you don’t leave the field with a battle wound, you didn’t play well,” says the Male High School senior. Operating from the center-attack position she earns her battle wounds during face-offs and sees nonstop action on both ends of the field. With its restrictions on body-checking, girls lacrosse doesn’t see an abundance of physical contact, but it’s still an aggressive game, and Carolyn plays it with abandon.
As a fifth-grader she saw her older sister play and had to be restrained from getting on the field herself because she was so little at the time. Manual coach Steve Auden remembers her playing for the first time as a sixth-grader and says, “She was the tiniest girl on the field, but she was absolutely fearless.” Carolyn recalls getting hooked on lacrosse after netting a goal. “I scored on a much older girl and I remember thinking, ‘Dude, you got scored on by a sixth-grader.’ Then I dropped down to one knee and began pumping my fist.”
Her passion for the game and leadership are evident during contests. She’s up and down the field, always looking to get her stick involved and yelling encouragement to teammates. “I love being competitive,” she says. “It’s about fighting for the ball and getting that adrenaline rush.”
She scored 15 goals last year and was on pace to possibly double that output this season. She plans to join the club teams next year at Coastal Carolina University. The thrill for her, in addition to scoring, is about making plays for her teammates. “If my assists and ground balls equal or exceed my goals, then I’ve accomplished something,” Carolyn says. —JLF
