Field Hockey
Favorite athlete: Misty May-Treanor
Favorite team: Notre Dame Football Team
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the league championship this year and beating Council Rock North for the first time in South’s history during my sophomore year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: During a game, it was pouring rain, and I had a breakaway. My skirt soaked up the water, and it fell down while I was running. I played the rest of the game just in my spandex.
Music on iPod: Luke Bryan, Imagine Dragons, Hunter Hayes and Avicii
Future plans: To play field hockey at Messiah College
Words to live by: “Smile every chance you get. Not because life has been easy, perfect, or exactly as you anticipated, but because you choose to be happy and grateful for all the good things you do have and all the problems you know you don’t have.”
One goal before turning 30: Graduate with a degree and have a loving family.
One thing people don’t know about me: I volunteer at church every week helping with the kids’ program.
By Mary Jane Souder
Kristin Donohue wasn’t a headliner on this year’s SOL National Conference championship Council Rock South field hockey squad, but the senior captain, according to her coach, embodied all of the traits that made this year’s team such a special one.
“She leads by her actions,” coach Tina Reinprecht said. “She’s not going to yell at anybody. She’s just going to work hard and have everybody’s back throughout the game.
“Hard work – everybody works together, everybody works hard, everybody sticks together, and we never quit.”
That not only described this year’s Golden Hawk squad but Donohue as well. The senior midfielder did whatever was asked of her and then some.
“It wasn’t necessarily in terms of stats, but in terms of work output,” Reinprecht said of Donohue’s contributions. “She flies on corners, she strikes on corners, so she goes end line to end line.
“There were moments during the season when she was like, ‘Darn it, I’m going to carry this team on my back.’”
Donohue’s play is defined by her effort, and she played a key role as the center midfielder in Reinprecht’s system.
“I had her as attacking mid, defending mid,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “She was the center mid essentially, but I moved her around within that role a little bit.
“I used a couple of different systems, and she did a great job.”
Donohue is passionate about field hockey, and capping her senior season with a conference championship was icing on the cake. The Golden Hawks clinched the title with a 3-2 overtime win over archrival Council Rock North in the final game of the league season.
“Winning the league was just amazing, especially going into the last game that was either going to put us in first place or third place,” Donohue said. “That just gave us so much energy. We really wanted it. I’m so proud of my team for how far we came.”
A conference title might have seemed unlikely at best when coach Lisa Belz (maternity leave) stepped down just prior to the start of the season, leaving the Golden Hawks without a coach. Until, that is, Reinprecht agreed to take over the helm.
“I knew going into this year we had so much potential, and we could win the league,” Donohue said. “When our coach said she couldn’t coach anymore, it was disappointing, and we were so upset.
“Once we heard from Mr. Radick that Tina was stepping in to coach us this year, it was just incredible. We were so excited because we knew she was a great coach.”
Donohue was one of seven or eight players already involved in Reinprecht’s Mystx club program.
“I loved playing hockey for Mystx,” Donohue said. “It taught me so much during my high school years.”
The senior midfielder was first introduced to field hockey in middle school. She’s been playing ever since, giving up soccer – which she had been playing since she was five – as well as basketball in favor of hockey.
“I liked it because it was challenging, and you could always learn new tricks, new moves to incorporate,” Donohue said. “And I just loved the players.”
She has played everything from forward to defensive back, and Donohue admits that she enjoys the defensive aspect of the game. She got her first taste of playing defense as a sophomore when a teammate was out of the lineup because of illness.
“Defense is a lot different than offense, and you have to be really patient,” Donohue said. “Honestly, I just thought I was better at that than scoring.”
Donohue has been a varsity contributor since her freshman year when – along with several teammates – she was a swing player. A starter since her sophomore year, she has endured her share of nicks and bruises.
“Last year I hurt my hip flexor during preseason,” Donohue said. “It bothered me through the whole season, but I just played through it.
“Starting this summer with camps and stuff, it started bothering me again. I guess it never healed. I go to the gym a lot, and that helped strengthen it. (Athletic trainer) Scott (Lisher) helps me as well.”
This past season, Donohue dealt with a back issue and then injured her ankle midway through the season before pulling her IT band late in the season. Still, she never missed a game.
“She really battled through it,” Reinprecht said. “I expected a lot of her, and boy, she played her heart out the last three quarters of the season and really did a phenomenal job.
“She’s not necessarily kamikaze do or die, but running back to make a saving tackle or putting pressure on a breakaway or coming up with the ball and sending it in the other direction - in those tough games, she had to do all that, and she did all that.”
Donohue’s time spent in the trainer’s room influenced her career choice. She plans to pursue a degree in biology and follow that with three additional years to become a physical therapist.
“I just love helping people get better at their sport,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of injuries, and just coming out of them, I’m so thankful for all the help I’ve gotten to get back in the game.
“I missed a couple of practices, but I don’t think I missed any games. I went to the trainer every single day to try and get my back and ankle better. I was there every day, twice a day – before practice and after practice. It’s been a long road.”
Next fall, Donohue will take her talents to perennial Division III power Messiah College, choosing Messiah over a final list that included Kutztown and Eastern University.
“It was a really hard decision,” she said. “I loved all the schools I was looking at, but Messiah really stood out to me.
“Their field hockey program is amazing, and the girls are really nice.”
When she’s not playing field hockey, Donohue is volunteering her time at her church where she helps out with the children’s programs once or twice a week.
She’s a great kid with a tremendous work output,” Reinprecht said. “I really couldn’t have been prouder of her and how she led the team and finished the season.”
