School: Central Bucks West
Favorite athlete: Michael Phelps
Favorite teams: “Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics…I’m a big New England fan.”
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Winning league champs for spring track by one point last year, the same year the team had an undefeated season.”
Funniest moment competing in sports: “I would have to say the funniest thing happened this past week during our last home game. Coach put out goalkeeper in to play defense for the last couple of minutes. In the last seconds, as the opponents attempted to hit the ball down the field, she was caught off balance as the ball rolled by and tripped over herself just as the game ended.”
Future plans: “I plan to continue playing field hockey and majoring in biology or pre-med in hopes of attaining a PhD or MD.”
Words to live by: “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
One goal before turning 30: “Watch a scary movie without having to leave the room/theatre or covering my face for the better part of its duration.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I have received 11 consecutive Presidential Physical Fitness Awards (and hopefully 12 by the end of this year).”
Maura Hennigan would never be described as a flashy field hockey player.
But talk to opposing coaches, and invariably they point to the Central Bucks West senior defensive back as the player that stands out in a crowd for the Bucks. Hennigan has spent the last two years making life miserable for opposing offensive players, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it.
“She’s got great athletic ability,” West coach Alison Stone said. “She’s just consistent – her body positioning is so strong. When she does go for the ball, 90 percent of the time she ends up with a 50-50 ball.
“Her speed is a little deceptive. She’s really, really fast, and I think that contributes to it as well.”
Hennigan’s first involvement with organized sports began when she started playing softball in first grade with the Doylestown Athletic Association.
“My parents wanted us to be active and try new things,” Hennigan said. “I signed up for hockey in second grade, and it just stuck with me throughout my years.
“I just liked the play of the game. I liked all the action and the idea of a team. With softball, I felt as if I wasn’t doing as much. In hockey, I just loved the game.”
In ninth grade, Hennigan gave up softball in favor of track. She has excelled in track as well and has advanced to districts in the 100 hurdles, but hockey is her first love.
She began her hockey career playing midfield and then moved up to forward. She moved back to midfield in 10th grade and then back even further – to the defensive end – under then first-year coach Stone last year.
“I just felt I needed to distribute our strengths defense through offense, and I really felt she’s so strong, and her body positioning is so good she would make an excellent defender,” Stone said. “It was just natural. It’s like that was where she was supposed to be from the beginning.
“She’s also a good distributor, so when she does have the ball, she has a good sense of when to hang onto it and carry it for possession and also when to pass the ball. She and Amanda Fleischut work very well together. Amanda knows when Maura gets the ball – it’s immediate that Amanda covers in her position. It’s going to be a real hard spot to fill next year.”
Hennigan admits she was not prepared for the switch to defense.
“The first time coach brought it up I was shocked,” she said. “I didn’t even think about playing defense because I always wanted to score. One of my initial fears was – ‘I’m in the back. Oh no, it’s the end of the world,’ but it’s not. It’s great.
“Once I tried it out, I realized that it was for me because I have the strength, and I still have the ability to score, but I can contribute more to the team by playing defense.”
That’s not to say there wasn’t an adjustment period – there was.
“I think I liked it last year, but I wasn’t in love with it,” Hennigan said. “This year, I feel great where I am.”
With Hennigan’s move to the defensive backfield came an elevated level of play for the Bucks, who advanced to the district tournament in each of the last two seasons.
“When we switched coaches, it felt like a brand new start for everything,” she said. “I felt like I was redoing everything over again, so it was a good opportunity to rethink everything, focus on what I could improve on and we all came together.
“The past two years we have just improved so much. It’s great.”
In track, Hennigan – in addition to the 100 hurdles - competes in the 300 hurdles as well as the triple jump and high jump.
“I realized there were so many events you could do in track, and it sounded like something fun I could try,” she said. “I did it the spring of ninth grade, and it just grew from there.”
Just as Hennigan enjoys a variety of events in track, she also enjoys a variety of activities in school. In addition to competing in winter and spring track, she has a heavy academic load, and she excels in the classroom as well.
Hennigan is president of the National Honor Society. She’s also a member of student government, Key Club and the Spanish Honor Society. The senior standout is a volunteer hockey coach with DAA, and she annually volunteers for Savory Sample and May Day at the Mercer Museum.
How does she manage to keep everything straight?
“I have to get that planner out, and I have to make sure I have time for everything and make myself organized so I can get it all in because I like to do a lot of things,” she said.
With her sights set on a biology/pre-med major, Hennigan is considering Vassar as well as Franklin and Marshall. She hopes to continue her hockey career at the collegiate level.
“I definitely want to play,” she said. “I really can’t see my life not playing.”
Competing in sports, according to Hennigan, has made an already full life even richer.
“Sports have taught me basically everything from my high school,” she said. “It’s taught me leadership, dedication. I go out at practice and dedicate myself two hours every day to work towards something.
“It’s taught me goals. I don’t come home, and I don’t sit around. I have something that keeps me active. I have teammates who help me. I love that feeling when you’re part of a team, and you all work towards something. That’s just the best feeling.”
