Centre College Athletics Photo
Sophomore Gracie O’Brien knew the Centre College lacrosse team might have some struggles this year because of its overall youth.
“We have come a long way this season already and I was excited to play with the freshmen who were coming in with a lot of skill and talent ,” said O’Brien, who started seven of her team’s first 11 games. “We have really started to mesh as a team.”
O’Brien is a rare dual-sport athlete at Centre. She also joined the diving team this year, a relatively easy transition since she was a successful high school diver at Lexington Catholic where she also played lacrosse. Her mother, Kristen O’Brien, was also a dual sport athlete at Centre who ran track and played soccer.
“When I decided to come to Centre I had originally only committed to lacrosse and only did that my freshman year,” O’Brien, a seven-time all-state academic selection in lacrosse and diving in high school, said. “This year the swim coaches let me know they did not have any divers. One friend (Haley Ricke) I play lacrosse with also dives, so they talked to both of us and we both decided it would be something good for us to do.”
It was good for the team too. O’Brien placed sixth in the three-meter event and eighth on the one-meter board during February’s Southern Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships.
“I was actually very surprised at how I did,” O’Brien said. “Not only had I not dove in a few years but I had never competed on the 3-meter board before.”
O’Brien started playing lacrosse in fifth grade mainly because her brother, Britt, played. He went on to play lacrosse at Centre. She began diving on a neighborhood swim team and started diving more competitively as a seventh-grader.
She decided to play lacrosse in college in large part because her club coach was Centre coach Monica Scott. O’Brien already had a good relationship with Scott, knew her style of play and knew how she would fit in.
“Centre also only had one diver on the team, so that helped make my decision,” O’Brien said.
Lacrosse can be a physical sport, especially compared to diving, but the Centre sophomore said men’s lacrosse is even more physical. “There are more rules in place to keep us safe. The men have more padding. We were gobbles and mouthguards. We can’t hit as hard. The men can really beat up on each other more,” O’Brien said.
Playing two sports can be time-consuming along with the academic workload for O’Brien, a biology major. She had fall lacrosse before diving season immediately started. She got Christmas break but Rice studied abroad in January, so O’Brien was diving daily and also doing her lacrosse workouts. She would even make the trip to Louisville a few nights per week to use diving facilities there.
“When we get our new pool and facilities here at Centre we will not have to drive to Louisville any more to train,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien admitted she got tired at times but never to the point where she could not cope athletically or academically even while making organic chemistry, biochemistry/molecular biology and Spanish this semester.
“Our professors here are very understanding. If we are away competing and miss a class, they are willing to help outside of class time to get you caught back up,” she said.
O’Brien is optimistic about what the lacrosse team can do — she started seven of the first 11 matches — the rest of this season and anticipates she will do both sports again her junior year at Centre College. However, she will be studying abroad in Strasbourg, France, during the fall.
“I have not seen the exact list of classes I will be taking but I know there will be a lot of history of France and traveling to see different attractions. I will be able to immerse myself in French culture,” she said.
A Centre professor will accompany the students and co-teach classes with someone in France.
“The classes will be challenging academically and it will really be different for me with more history classes but I am really looking forward to it,” O’Brien said. “Then I will jump back into diving and lacrosse when I get back. I will get back on the (diving) boards some this summer also just to help get myself prepared for doing both sports again.”
