Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Hess headed to Richmond


ImageHannah Hess signs letter of intention to attend the University of Richmond next year. Hess, currently playing lacrosse for the Lady Mounts this spring, will focus her athletic attention back to field hockey where she her talents have garnered national respect.

Hannah Hess knew she was going to be playing Division One field hockey somewhere next year. She just had a tough time deciding where that would be.

But now that the decision has been made, the Ephrata senior says her decision to attend the University of Richmond on a field hockey scholarship was the best one she could have made.

"It has worked out better than I could ever have imagined," she said recently. "I feel lucky to be 100 percent into the school that I'm going to because I know what it's like to feel unsure of your decision. For me to jump back into it and to just be completely happy and thrilled where I'm going is a good feeling."

Jump back into it she did at the 11th hour when she did an about face and de-committed to Virginia just two days before the official signing day. Hess, who also considered Maryland, William & Mary and Penn State, said something just didn't feel right about UVa.

"I got sort of nervous about it I guess," she said of attending Virginia. "I was just feeling unsure of my decision and the night before the actual signing day I told them I wasn't coming and sort of got tossed back into the whole process again. Then I went to a tournament in Florida and Richmond just got a new head coach (Gina Lucido) and she had recruited me when she was the assistant at Indiana. She heard I was back on the market and she needed to pick up a whole entire new class for Richmond. It's funny how it worked out because it actually worked out perfectly. I just loved Richmond from the first time I went there."

"(The University of Virginia) is a great place and I'm sure the people who go there love it. But something just wasn't clicking. I just couldn't get a good feel for it."

In the end, Richmond and Hess seem like a perfect fit.

For one, she'll feel at home there with a total of four ex-L-L League players on the roster, including Cocalico's Becky White and several of her club teammates.

Secondly, she's joining a program that is a perennial top 20 team and one that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament the last five campaigns.

And finally, it is a place where she and Coach Lucido feels she can step right in and play.

"(Coach Lucido) told me that I will be an impact player probably early on, which is real exciting because the other schools I was looking at I didn't expect that. It just sort of happened to be the perfect situation for me."

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Hannah Hess working her way through traffic. © Photo courtesy of Andy Babin.

 

Hess, who was named to the All-State Team this past year, was a three-time L-L All-Star and twice participated in the National Futures Tournament. She was selected to the All-State Academic Team which is given to players who possess a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

As far as academics are concerned, Hess is leaning toward Pre-Med but is intrigued by Richmond's Leadership program, the only school in the country that offers such a major.

Either way, the Ephrata senior says she knows she made the right decision.

"The campus is beautiful. You couldn't ask for a prettier place to spend your time," she said. "I had thought Virginia was a real beautiful campus but Richmond just blows it out of the water. It's actually the perfect place for me."