After nearly a year without competition spring, sports are about to begin with high hopes and restrictions. Going into her third season as the head coach of the girls’ lacrosse team Brittany Hartmann is excited to get back on the field with her players.
Hartmann from Portland, Oregon returned to her alma mater in 2018 to take over as head coach. In the 2012-2013 season, Hartmann was named the female player of the year after a phenomenal season. She later graduated that year with a degree with cum laude honors in Chemistry with a Physics minor.
Last year was the first time Hartmann ever had a season canceled in her life. In the fall the NCAA established a no-contact rule which was a struggle for Hartmann because lacrosse is a contact sport. Hartmann improvised with relay races and various cone drills to make sure everybody stayed socially distanced.
“Lacrosse contact is the same as basketball contact. There is constant touching going on,” said Hartmann.
Now, slowly transitioning back into contact Hartmann has one priority for her players: safety. She wants to prevent any injuries from happening this season. It is the first time players will have contact since last March. Up to this point, the lacrosse team has had zero players testing positive for COVID throughout the year.
The lacrosse games will look a little different this year for the team. There will only be two non-conference games. They will be doing doubleheaders for the season meaning they will be playing the same team twice in one weekend.
“This will help eliminate cross-contamination and make the games safer for the teams,” said Hartmann.
All spring season games will look a little different since the Northwest Conference decided to not allow fans to attend games. Hartmann was disappointed about the news but excited for our amazing media team who will be streaming all of the games.
“The year before I got here there was a coaching problem with the last coach being difficult with the players. That team went on to have a winless season. When I arrived and we got our first win it was the best feeling in the world. Everybody was excited and there was just so much joy,” said Hartmann.
Hartmann is ecstatic for this season saying they have a great chance of going .500 this year. They have 18 players returning with an addition of five freshmen. Hartmann also said to keep an eye out on a couple of players like captain Madyson Ivey who plays goalkeeper. Also, look out for Senior Amber Lancia who plays attacker and Hartmann said she is one of the hardest-working players on the team. — Rustin Williams
Leave a Reply