Women's lacrosse head coach Kerstin Kimel should feel fortunate that freshman Meghan McLaughlin never liked ballet. As a way to avoid early ballet lessons, McLaughlin begged her mom to let her play lacrosse in third grade. Years later, what started out as just an activity to pass the time evolved into a passion, and then a ticket to Duke in the form of a scholarship.
Living in Towson, Md., McLaughlin was surrounded by lacrosse, the unofficial state sport of Maryland. She said everyone in the Baltimore area played the lacrosse, so she decided she wanted to be a part of the action. Her first lacrosse action came on her elementary school team in third grade, and four years later she knew she wanted to play the sport in college.
Lacrosse was also in McLaughlin's family. Her aunt coached at Loyola, and her older cousin played, so McLaughlin would watch their games. She even played the sport during the summer, when she would attend lacrosse camps hosted by colleges.
"They had collegiate players coaching at the camps, and there were high school players there, so I did see myself playing in college," McLaughlin said. "I was always very impressed by the level of skills of the older players at the camps."
McLaughlin was such a stellar lacrosse player in her younger years that she made an immediate impact as a freshman on the varsity squad at Maryvale Prepatory School in Brooklandville, Md. She said making the varsity as a freshman reassured her that she was able to play with the top lacrosse players.
Yet she wasn't satisfied with just making the team. In practice, McLaughlin was motivated to work harder to beat her teammates in sprints or in scrimmages. Part of work on the field came from battling for attention at home with an overachieving brother.
"I've always wanted to be the best," she said. "Back home, I always had to prove myself, that I am worthy. I think that lacrosse was an outlet, because my brother didn't do that."
Throughout high school, McLaughlin continued to establish herself at summer camps. It was at a camp for the University of Maryland that McLaughlin first met Kimel, a former player for the Terrapins, and the player and coach developed a rapport. Kimel's first impression of McLaughlin was that she was a sturdy, aggressive athlete whose potential had yet to he tapped. Kimel helped find some of that potential at the camps, sometimes giving McLaughlin personal instruction. Kimel was then a coach at Davidson, and she had such an influence on McLaughlin that the Wildcats were one of several schools McLaughlin considered.
Yet McLaughlin's final college decision came down between her home state university-Maryland-and Duke. The addition of Kimel as the Blue Devils' head coach was one reason why she eventually joined the Duke program. But the main reason was McLaughlin had the chance to use her athletic talent to get a great education.
"I loved Duke and I also wanted to use lacrosse to get me someplace I might not have been able to get to if I hadn't played," she said. "I knew I could get into Maryland. If I hadn't had lacrosse, I might not have gotten into Duke."
By choosing Duke over the Terrapins, McLaughlin knew she was giving up the chance to be on a defending national championship squad in exchange for a first-year program that would struggle early. But the Blue Devils' 1-6 start has only motivated McLaughlin to work harder. Her goal is that in three years Duke will be up to par with the Terrapins as a top-notch program.
Since Duke is a first-year program, Kimel told her freshmen that they would not be able to make freshman mistakes and that they would have to step up as leaders both on and off the field. McLaughlin has filled those roles perfectly, so well that Kimel has commented she sometimes forgets that McLaughlin is only a freshman.
"We always use Meghan as an example," Kimel said. "I see her as a team captain later on because she leads by example."
McLaughlin has accepted the role of a leader with open arms. In the team's first seven games, she has become one of the Blue Devils' most prolific scorers. Kimel said many of Duke's plays are run for McLaughlin because of her height and her speed.
"I want the ball," McLaughlin said. "I want to score. There is always something that I can do."
Kimel has also been impressed with McLaughlin's undying spirit, something Kimel considers very important for a first-year program. Unfortunately, that spirit has sometimes gotten McLaughlin in trouble. Against Towson State, she received two yellow cards and was ejected from the game. The Blue Devils trailed 9-8 when McLaughlin was ejected with nearly eight minutes left in the game. Without McLaughlin, Duke was held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Kimel said with McLaughlin in the game, the Blue Devils would have had a better chance to win.
"It feels like I got away with a lot of stuff in high school defense-wise," McLaughlin said of her aggressive play. "I think on the defensive end I have learned a lot this year and I am learning to be a more composed defensive player-not taking wild checks-being a smart defensive player."
For Meghan McLaughlin, it's sometimes hard to imagine that an excuse for getting out of ballet has given her so much. And there still is a lot more she hopes to accomplish at Duke. In a few years, she's hoping to develop into a more well-rounded player. She also wants to be the team leader-the example for the rest of the team to emulate-just as college players were for her in high school.
"Playing in high school, my goal was to play lacrosse in Division I," she said. "I'm appreciative of what lacrosse has done for me. I'm grateful something I love and am so passionate about could get me this far in life."
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