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08/20/2024 12:13 PMThere is always the saying of the sophomore slump, but Claire Levis went the exact opposite way. She experienced a sophomore surge by establishing herself as an underclassman standout for a young Hand girls’ lacrosse squad.
Claire started playing lacrosse in second grade, after being influenced by her siblings playing the sport. She also played basketball and competed in gymnastics growing up, while she also plays soccer for the Tigers. This past spring as a sophomore for the Hand girls’ lacrosse team, the midfielder made both the First Team All-SCC and All-State squads after producing a stat line of 62 goals, 27 assists, and 88 draw controls for the state semifinalist.
“I love playing on the draw and playing both offense and defense. I also like how you can be specialized with lacrosse, instead of being well-rounded,” says Claire. “I did not expect to receive All-SCC and All-State as a sophomore. We graduated our whole starting line, so I loved taking on kind of a leadership role. It was rewarding, and we had an amazing coach along the way. The awards showed my hard work really paid off.”
Midfield is a position tailor-made for Claire, as her endurance suits the needs of the job quite well. She enjoys making the little things happen that parlay their way to points, and when things get tough, she consoles and strengthens herself by saying nothing is insurmountable.
“At midfield, I love being able to spring from one end of the field to the other and moving from offense to defense. I think one of my specialties is my hustle,” Claire says. “I love assisting on goals on offense, and then on defense, making interceptions is the best feeling. I can get in my head a lot, but I just tell myself it is mind over matter. I also tell myself that just because you are a midfielder, that it means you will get all the goals.”
In her moments of doubt, Claire draws upon her past accomplishments and experiences to pull herself together. She is even so self-aware mentally that she can sense the slightest bit of pessimism to switch it to positivity.
“I tell myself to rely on all the hard work I have put in. I also tell myself I have done all of this a million times before,” says Claire. “I also surround myself with a positive attitude. If I am down, I try to detect that mentality right away and switch myself back to a more positive one. I also keep reminding myself that everyone makes mistakes.”
When it comes to attacking the net when she gets to the upper part of the turf, Claire likes to strike from the left. She is additionally looking to bolster her passing abilities and using her elusiveness to tally goals.
“I like scoring from the high left side, and then dodging from my right side around the 12-yard mark. I am trying to also perfect my behind-the-back pass. I also love going around the crease and dodging when it comes to scoring.”
The Tigers walked into essentially an entire fresh squad this past spring for the 2024 campaign after parting ways with a plethora of seniors. There was initially an inevitable feeling out period for the group, but as time wore on, they found their form and excelled cohesively.
“The whole lineup this year was young and new after all the seniors we graduated the year before,” Claire says. “We did not have all the chemistry at the start of the year because it was sort of like a whole new team. I feel like the sophomore class held a lot of the weight. As time went on, our offense became smoother. We have a good feeling that we can try to win SCCs and states next year after going so far in states.”
Hand girls’ lacrosse Head Coach Lindsay Carroll praises Claire for her raw talent and a great intelligence towards the sport of lax. Moreso, she is someone who never stops working to benefit herself, and even more importantly, her teammates.
“Claire is a joy to coach. She brings a lot of natural athletic ability, a physicality dynamic and versatility, great vision and understanding of the sport, but more importantly, she is a great teammate,” says Carroll. “She shows an extraordinary work ethic and a positive attitude with everything she does on and off the field.”
Claire crashed a major career threshold this past campaign, so she is looking to conquer and experience many more benchmark moments throughout the remainder of her tenure in a Hand uniform. Ultimately, she wants to see her Tigers hoist up both some conference and state championship gold in the near future.
“I got to the 100-career point milestone, and so I want to next get the 100-career goal and assist ones,” says Claire. “I want to also try for Academic All-State and hopefully have our team win SCCs and states. I also want to have a bigger leadership role next year and lead in a big way.”