Field Hockey, Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Chris Long
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating CB West this year for the first time in almost a decade.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was a freshman, during a very physical game, a passionate senior ripped the skirt off of the opponent after being knocked over.
Music on mobile device: My favorite artists are Post Malone, Lewis Capaldi and Halsey.
Future plans: I would like to attend Johns Hopkins for Pre-Med and plan to become an emergency room doctor.
Words to live by: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” “Don’t lose yourself in the temporary, no one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared.”
One goal before turning 30: My goal is to have successfully completed medical school and on my way to becoming a doctor.
One thing people don’t know about me: I am a crazy Harry Potter fan.
By Mary Jane Souder
Mention the sport of field hockey to Abby Ludlow, and the Pennridge senior can’t hide her enthusiasm. Granted, she wasn’t introduced to hockey until she was in seventh grade. As a matter of fact, soccer was her sport of choice until then, but once she picked up a hockey stick, she was hooked.
“Field hockey was brand new to me,” Ludlow said. “Now it’s my senior year, and it’s my passion. I want to play it the rest of my life.”
Hockey might not be a lifelong sport for the senior captain, who aspires one day to be a doctor, but there’s no mistaking the fact that she’s enjoying every minute while she’s playing.
With the graduation of the Rams’ two big scorers from last year’s squad, Ludlow and her fellow captains, Shannon Griffin and Macy Price, had an idea.
“When we met in February, they said – ‘Even though we aren’t necessarily crazy skilled, we can play for each other, and as that happens, we’ll be successful,” coach Becky Spahr said. “Our captains have really defined what they want our team to be about, and we’re working on creating a field hockey family.
“Abby is a huge part of not only that idea but really making sure that the whole team from the freshman jayvee players through our seniors all feel like they’re part of the group, and they are important to the team regardless of what they do on the field.”
Listening to Ludlow tell it, the idea of creating a family had its roots when she was a freshman.
“The squad had a really good family dynamic, and I think it really made the team work,” she said.
According to Ludlow, it was a bit different the past two years.
“We had some drama, but we saw how well the family dynamic worked freshman year, so that’s what we decided to create,” she said. “I feel as though a team plays really well together when you know each other personally and you bond. I think that’s what really set the senior year dynamic of the family idea.”
The family concept was put to an early test for Ludlow, who is joined on the forward line by a pair of freshmen – Payton Muth and Hayley Borneman. The team’s goalie, Maia Machado, is also a freshman.
“I never met them before in my life, and I can honestly say that they’re my best friends,” Ludlow said. “Over the summer, we do workouts, they came to some of them, but I didn’t know them that well.
“I knew they were good players from (Pennridge) North Middle School, and they were really nice. I drive them home and everywhere and now we’re really good friends.”
Intentional steps have been taken to bond. There are the usual pasta parties, and at the suggestion of their coach, the team tried goat yoga.
“It’s yoga and baby goats climb on you while you’re doing it,” Ludlow said. “It was so much fun, just seeing your team happy and bonding with each other – it was exactly what we needed this year.
“Now its second nature. It’s not like tiny little groups. Everyone is just friends with each other.”
An added bonus to the team’s camaraderie is the fact that the Rams have experienced success. After 10 games, the Rams are 6-3-1, just three wins shy of last year’s win total for the entire season. It’s a record that has surprised even the optimistic Ludlow.
“I’m not going to lie – I didn’t think we were going to do that well this year because of how we lost our scorers from last year,” she said. “That’s why we made the whole family thing.
“We just wanted to have fun, and look where we are now. We’re all just shocked.”
The outgoing Lulow, according to her coach, is the consummate team player and has played a significant role in this year’s squad coming together.
“Abby is really good at making sure that everyone is aware of their role, and she does a really good job of making girls feel like they contribute regardless of what they are doing on the field,” Spahr said. It’s an awesome leadership quality, and she’s done an awesome job leading the way.”
*****
A late arrival on the hockey scene, Ludlow opted to give it a try at the suggestion of her aunt.
“I’d never heard of it, but I love trying new things,” she said. “My friends were on my team. I just really enjoyed it. The coach was nice, and I decided I was going to stick with it.”
In ninth grade, she joined the Souderton Strikers on the club circuit and found a new love – indoor field hockey.
“It was definitely indoor where it (brought) my passion out,” Ludlow said.
These days, Ludlow is contributing both on and off the field for a young Pennridge squad.
“She is our senior forward starting with two freshmen forwards,” Spahr said. “She doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but the ball goes through her to go to goal. She works incredibly hard on the field. She’s the first person to celebrate with our freshmen when they score. She’s really on board.
“She a team player, and because she’s a leader and because she’s so much fun, she makes the rest of our team that way too. Nobody is worried about stats. They’re worried about winning games and are we being successful. We have four seniors, and all of them are awesome. We have a really young team, and to have four solid girls who are leading us is really helpful to me.”
Ludlow also is a member of the winter and spring track and field team where she competes in sprints and long jump. She has volunteered her time to coach aspiring track athletes with Pennridge jump coach Kevin Wills at the Quakertown YMCA.
But it’s hockey that’s her passion, and Ludlow hopes to compete at the collegiate level - whether it be club or Division III – while she pursues her ultimate goal of becoming a doctor.
“I’m interested in going to Johns Hopkins, and they’re a D3 field hockey team,” said Ludlow.
An excellent student, Ludlow, who takes mainly AP classes, is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also a member of Exec Council.
Aside from her school activities, Ludlow is active in her church youth group. She also finds time to work, cleaning for older families in need of assistance and working at Ludlow Flower Farms.
Ask Ludlow what field hockey has added to her high school experience, and coming as no surprise, the family theme resurfaces.
“It’s the friends I’ve made really,” she said. “I came into this school with a small group of friends, and with field hockey, I have 30-something girls I call my best friends.”
