Field Hockey
Favorite athlete: Tim Howard
Favorite team: U.S. Women’s Soccer Team
Favorite memory in sports: Getting the news that our team made playoffs sophomore year.
Funniest memory while competing in sports: When our starting varsity goalie got put on the front line for a game and had no idea what she was doing.
Music on iPod: Switchfoot and OneRepublic
Future plans: Become pediatric physical therapist
Favorite motto: “You got a friend in me.”
One goal before turning 30: Road trip across the country.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m secretly a huge Star Wars geek.
By Mary Jane Souder
Meghan Izak converses easily about the countless activities she enjoys.
“I’m one of those people – I like to challenge myself, and I want to do the best that I can do,” the William Tennent senior said. “So throughout my whole high school career I’ve kind of just said yes to everything, whether that be school or after school activities.”
While Izak, a three-year starter and two-year captain, is unmistakably passionate about field hockey, she is equally enthusiastic about dancing.
Inspired by her aunt –and dance teacher - Kristine Izak, Meghan has taken lessons at the Jane Lopoten School of Dance two nights a week September to June for as long as she can remember.
Then there’s math. Izak admits she ‘hated’ the subject when she was younger, but in high school, all that changed, and she is not only part of the school’s mathlete team, she also is a member of the Math National Honor Society.
“Math is one thing for me that’s very concrete,” she said. “It’s yes or no, it works or not. I just found it interesting the way you can do anything with math, and it can apply anywhere in life.”
Hockey, dancing and math are just the tip of the iceberg. Izak is also active with her church youth group, meeting with them once a week, and she has taken mission trips that have been life-changing experiences.
“I’ve gone anywhere from Africa to Kensington Philadelphia and everywhere in between,” Izak said.
Izak’s trip to Kenya the summer before her sophomore year was particularly eye opening.
“It changes your whole outlook on life,” she said. “I feel like I’ve grown up in such a materialistic world where everyone is so excited about the newest iPhone, what kind of clothes you’re wearing.
“It’s very different when you go to a culture like that where it’s just survival.”
Her team, which partnered with an organization called Chariots of Hope, worked specifically at orphanages. It was during that trip that the group met a little girl named Lucy.
“A couple of her older sisters lived at the (orphanage), but she stayed home and was living with her mother,” Izak said. “Even though she was only five, she kind of took care of her mother because her mom had some disabilities, and someone had to get her food and water.
“Seeing where she lived in this tiny little mud hut that the community had made for her – they had dug out a toilet for her and stuff like that. It was just crazy to see that someone grows up like that.
“I think my bedroom is small because I have to share it with my sister. Definitely coming back from that – it was almost sickening to see how much wealth I have compared to that and I take it completely for granted.”
So touched was her mission team that they decided to start an education fund to raise money so Lucy could go to school and have adequate water.
If it seems as though Izak has many passions, she does, and she doesn’t seem to sell any of them short.
“From a freshman to a senior, she has grown phenomenally into the person I knew she could be,” Tennent hockey coach Kaitlyn Rauchut said. “When times are tough, she always gets going.
“Obviously, she’s a very talented player, but off the field, she’s a leader. She not only leads by example but is a wonderful role model for younger players.”
Having that positive leader and role model has never been more important for a Tennent hockey squad that is in a rebuilding phase.
“She’s the person that makes everybody keep going,” Rauchut said. “Her outlook on field hockey and on life – she always knows how to find the positive side of it all.
“As a leader, Meghan knows how to lead by example and motivate her teammates. Her leadership, situation recognition, decision making and positive attitude not only make her a threat on the field but make her a model of excellence for the sport of field hockey.”
Izak, who spent her K-8 years at Open Door Christian Academy, was a newcomer to the team and the school when she walked onto the field the first day of preseason as a freshman.
The senior captain laughs when she remembers her first practice.
“I didn’t know really anyone at Tennent,” Izak said. “I knew my neighbor, but she played volleyball.
“I hadn’t gone to spring workouts. I really had no idea. So when the warm-up was beginning, we split into smaller groups of two or three people, and I, of course, didn’t have a partner, so for some reason, I got put in the group with the captain, the seniors who went on to play at college.
“I was like, ‘What did I get myself into? I don’t know if I can do this.’ But all the girls were so nice. It made transitioning into a public high school so much easier, going the first day of school already knowing 40 girls that were ‘Oh, you can sit with me at lunch.’”
A member of the jayvee team as a freshman, Izak has been a fixture in the starting lineup at right defensive back since her sophomore year. This year she has been moved to defensive midfielder.
“Meghan encompasses the all-around player,” Rauchut said. “Athletically, she has speed, strength and good footwork.
“As a defender, Meghan plays with power and poise. She has impeccable stick skills and technique. One of Meghan’s greatest attributes is her good decision making. Her situational decision making helps her execute accurately on the field with impressive delivery skills.”
One of just five seniors on the roster, Izak understands her role as a captain has changed.
“Last year, even though I was a captain, since you’re a junior captain, you still have some influence on the team, but you also defer to the other seniors,” she said. “Last year I focused more on trying to make sure that all the freshmen and sophomores and even our juniors felt accepted and part of the team and we were still one team even though you might not be playing varsity.
“This year has been a little tough. It’s kind of a growing year. For me, it’s definitely just trying to stay positive even though we might not be getting the results we’re used to. Going into a half down four goals is a little discouraging, but then the next half not giving up any goals scored, that’s an improvement, and that’s what you want to see.”
Izak hopes to keep hockey as part of her life with aspirations to play collegiately at the club level.
“I’m looking more for academics, but we’ll see,” she said.
A member of the National Honor Society and Science Honor Society, Izak’s schedule is loaded with AP classes, and she boasts an unweighted GPA of 3.72. She has her sights set on becoming a physical therapist, an interest that was sparked by her own life experiences.
“Actually, my mom has MS and my dad (works in the field of) orthotics and prosthetics, so I’ve kind of grown up around therapists and people helping people,” Izak said. “It really interests me the way you can rehabilitate someone’s body through simple movements and stretches and stuff like that.
“I think I’ll probably pursue pediatric care because I love kids.”
In what little spare time she has, Izak, the oldest of three children, enjoys community service. In addition to doing service with her church, she has volunteered her time to help organize a tea party put on by her dance studio to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research and has danced at the opening ceremonies for the annual Mother’s Day Race for the Cure.
For now, though, Izak’s focus is on her final high school field hockey season.
“She has very high expectations for herself, but she also has high expectations of others, and I think people respect her so much,” Rauchut said. “She’s been a fantastic, valuable asset to our program the past four years.”
