Recently graduated field hockey player from The College of New Jersey, Lindsey Hatch, has proven that you don’t have to be a Division 1 athlete in order to be recognized in the athletic community.
Every year the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) honors 30 graduating female college athletes who have shown excellence in their academics, athletics, and have taken part in community service and leadership opportunities throughout their collegiate years. From that 9 finalists are chosen, from which one is picked to be titled the “NCAA Woman of the Year” according to NCAA.org. This year TCNJ threw its hat into the ring in the form of Hatch, when she was declared one of the 30 female athletes this past summer.
Even though it was announced on Sept. 25th that Hatch did not make it to the next round, that does not mean that Hatch’s athletic college career was anything short of spectacular. Hatch was a starting player here at the college for her last two years and finished her athletic career at the college with 54 goals, 26 assists for 134 points. Hatch is also ranked eighth in the College’s record books for career goals and tenth for career points.
Besides this latest athletic honor, she has also received multiple awards for her athletic successes. It could be humbly said that 2014 was a decent year for Hatch athletically, as she was named South Atlantic Region Player of the Year, National Player of the Year, and Longstretch/Nation Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III National Player of the Year.
On Oct. 18, Hatch along with all of the Top 30 ‘Woman of the Year’ honorees will travel out west to Indianapolis for an awards dinner at The Westin Indianapolis Hotel.
Hatch told tcnjatheltics.org that she’s, “grateful to be recognized, but I truly believe the greatest honor is being part of TCNJ’s field hockey program and I am proud to represent my school and my teammates.”
According to her Linkedin page, Hatch is currently a graduate student at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, and is aspiring to be a human resources professional.