Senior Ava Kraszewski committed to going Division I for lacrosse at Mount St. Mary’s University.
Kraszewski plans to major in health sciences with a pre occupational therapy track. Her tuition was covered by her athletic scholarship, so she only will have to pay for room and board.
When she started playing lacrosse in fifth grade, she found her passion and realized that lacrosse is what she wanted to focus on.
“She is a humble student athlete, but her work ethic is second to none,” head lacrosse coach Bernadine Salak said.
Her sophomore year she achieved a milestone of having 100 goals. Last season, she celebrated making 200 goals and broke a school record with 96 goals in one season.
Kraszewski was awarded team MVP her sophomore and junior years of high school. She was also recognized within the Wyoming Valley Conference as first team midfielder her freshman and junior years and first team utility her sophomore year. To add to her extensive list of accomplishments, she was also awarded MaxPreps player of the week and Blue Ridge Cable athlete of the week.
“She has that competitive fire, but in such a way that it encourages other students and athletes to follow her,” coach Salak said.
Kraszewski’s recruitment process was successful for her, but throughout it all, she kept reminding herself that whatever is meant to be will be.
“Don’t get discouraged because it’s really easy, especially when the schools you really want to go to don’t show interest,” Kraszewski said. “You have to remember everything happens for a reason.”
Her top schools were Mount St. Mary’s University, Saint Francis University and Slippery Rock University. Kraszewski ended up choosing Mount St. Mary’s because she felt the most welcomed and bonded with the team and coaches.
Kraszewski was given a sports recruit account from her Mad Dog team, which is able to be viewed by college coaches. She also made a profile that included her information, stats and highlight reels.
She attributes her successes to her parents’ support with their willingness to take her to practices and games and always being there for her. She also gives credit to her lacrosse coach Mrs. Krystine Thompson since she always drove her to be the best she can be on and off the field.
Kraszewski played on varsity all four years of high school. She was captain of the team both her junior and senior years of high school.
She also played for a club team Mad Dog North New Jersey, which had weekly practices along with tournaments in the summer and fall.
Kraszewski loves the competitiveness and fast pace movement of the sport which makes lacrosse more enjoyable for her.
Throughout her lacrosse career, her favorite memory has been beating North Pocono her sophomore year 11-10 and scoring nine goals.
In the spring, she has potential to become the all-time leading scorer and is one of the first athletes coming out of the lacrosse program going Division I.
“All the little things that she does to work hard in her game and the way that she conducts herself as a classy student athlete is what sets her apart,” coach Salak said. “And what’s going to lead her to her success as it already has.”
