In sports, it's rare that an athlete lives up to all the hype; but super-frosh Katie Chrest is doing just that. Unscathed by the pressure, the Hempstead, Md. native is leading Duke's No. 3 women's lacrosse team in both goals and points midway through the season.
As the pressure mounts, with the ACC and NCAA tournaments upcoming, there is no indication that Chrest will succumb to the increasing rigor. Instead, she is only becoming more comfortable within the Duke system and awaits a grand opportunity to help bring Duke its first lacrosse national championship.
Maybe it is due to Chrest's humble attitude and her understanding that hype doesn't equal pressure, nor does it ensure success.
"I guess I just took it one day at a time," she said. "I just had to keep in mind that there were no expectations for me. As far as I was concerned there was a clean slate coming into college."
Despite her calm attitude, her numbers speak for themselves. She has been instrumental in the team's No. 3 ranking and 9-1 record.
Chrest has netted a team-high 27 goals, shooting .415 percent, while tacking on 11 additional assists. Scoring at least a pair of goals in all but one contest, the nineteen year-old attack has led the Blue Devils in scoring in six of their 10 games.
"I had no idea that I would be doing this well actually," Chrest said. "I just came in like I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I just wanted to show our coaches and our team what I could do."
After scoring seven goals in the team's games against then No. 3 Georgetown and No. 6 Princeton an also impressing display of not only statistics but intangibles--Chrest was awarded Inside Lacrosse and ACC Player of the Week honors for the first of what will likely be many times in a promising career.
So how does she do it?
Chrest lets emotion drive her on the field. She doesn't try to over-think, she just goes out and plays.
"I think there is always that serious moment, but in general I am not an overly serious person," she said. "So I think I take time to visualize, think about what I need to do, but I think the way I prepare the best is by getting psyched up by using the other girls' emotion and fire."
In her situation, playing on a team with established stars, success can sometimes come at the expense of team chemistry and off the field dynamics. Chrest insists that this has been far from the problem.
"I think we all complement each other really well," the freshman said. "When one person is not on, that's when the other person steps up. I've just been fortunate enough to score so much maybe because other teams have the older girls' numbers."
The presence of offensive firepower around her has aided Chrest's transition into the college game, yet she knows that the scouting has begun to increase and it will only become more difficult when teams have seen her a second time.
"I definitely think that people start scouting," she said. "I know that they have already looked at me and know my moves better.
"That's where I have to rely on the rest of the girls to step up and fill in where necessary. It's hard to let a lot of pressure be put on you with the people you have around you."
Knowing that the competition will improve and intensity will mount, Chrest remains even-keeled. Instead of becoming flustered, she approaches each game like she did her first--no expectations, just go out and play.
"I just hope that I can keep contributing in any way that I can," the freshman said.
"It doesn't always have to be goals, there are so many things that don't show up in the score book that contribute to a win."
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