by Katie Iskra
assistant sports editor
In 2011, the Millsaps College women’s lacrosse team boasted only one non-conference win at the end of its first season. After its first season, the women’s team continued to build experience and team compatibility, leaving its 2013 spring season with an 8-6 record. Upon entering this year’s spring season, the women’s team has overcome many obstacles and will step onto Millsaps College’s Harper Davis Field with a new head coach and confidence in the team’s ability to continue improving its record.
“It’s sad to enter into my last season of the game I love more than anything,” says Madelyn Walker, senior goalie who was a founding team member in 2011. Walker has seen the team’s relentlessness through times of adversity. Confident in the team’s potential she says, “Lacrosse is here to stay and this season we will prove why we deserve to be on this campus.”
Unfortunately the “fall ball” season was cut short this year due to the stepping down of coach Tracy Cepnio. When new head coach Kasey Laird, a former Millsaps student athlete, stepped in, she pushed the women to prepare for the tough schedule that they will face.
“Throughout the season we will be doing a lot of training off the field in areas such as leadership, communication and mental toughness,” Laird says. “I am expecting that with the talent that is already present and these training tools, we can exceed last year’s record-setting season.”
The team’s first game against Birmingham Southern College is on Harper Davis Field, Feb. 14 at 4 p.m.