A Weekend Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity

The Generals volunteered with Habitat for Humanity this weekend in Lexington. Here's a reflection of the weekend's activities from the First-Years: This past Saturday, the lacrosse team split into two groups to spend some time doing community service in Lexington. The first group helped out Habitat for Humanity by building a wheelchair ramp together.
We learned a lot about teamwork as we helped each other out to complete our task. It was a really good experience for us as a team to be able to work together in something other than lacrosse and off the field.

The second group went to Habitat for Humanity Restore. The Restore takes donated construction items and sells them in order to raise funds for Habitat projects. It was a great team-bonding experience and we enjoyed learning about The Restore and doing the tasks they gave us together. We had lots of fun loading trucks, sweeping the store, and perusing the Book Nook.

It was good knowing we were able to better someone's life, while still being able to enjoying each other's company and learn how to cooperate with one another in order to be successful. We definitely learned valuable things that will definitely help to make us a more successful team on and off the field!

Kate Lester '06's Life Back in Lexington as a Law Student

This week we caught up with 2006 Generals' Alum Kate Lester to find out how she's liking her post-undergrad time as a W&L law student in Lexington:

Are you enjoying your second year of Law School at W&L?
Kate: I am enjoying my second year of law school. It is much busier than my first year because of extra-curricular activities, schoolwork and the job search. However, there are many advantages to having a year under my belt. Reading and writing gets accomplished much more quickly and efficiently and I'm enjoying the courses I chose to take this semester.

What are the biggest differences you see between living in Lexington as an undergrad and living here as a Law Student?
Kate: As a law student I find myself much less involved with the community and much more wrapped up in my schoolwork. I find that I rarely get time to visit the undergraduate side of campus because of all of the activities going on at the law school. Lexington is still a great place to study and live. I continue to feel safe and love its history.

What do you miss most about being an undergrad?
Kate: I miss having time to play two hours of sports everyday, of course! Along with that, I miss being a part of a team and living with my best friends and teammates. My years as an undergrad were much more carefree, but I still find time to have fun in law school. No worries!
Have you made any new discoveries about Lexington now that you’re living here as a Law Student?
Kate: I have not made too many new discoveries because I was sure to do as much as possible as an undergrad. However, I did get a chance to go to the Lexington Wine Festival at Lenfest several weeks ago which was great! I also got out to Panther Falls several times while the weather was nice. Both activities I did not participate in as an undergrad.

What do you like to do in your free time/on weekends?
Kate: On weekends I spend most of my time with law school friends hanging out outdoors, watching football, playing Apples to Apples or cooking together. I take trips to Charlottesville and DC every once in awhile and make sure to stay active.
Do you keep in touch with your ’06 Generals Lacrosse class?
Kate: Yes, I keep in touch with all of my '06 lacrosse class. They are actually the W&L alumnae that I keep in touch with the most because they are my best friends.

Have you thought much about plans after graduating Law School?
Kate: I have been forced to think about my plans after graduation because the job search for next summer has already begun. Last summer I was in Wilmington, Delaware working for a Superior Court Judge and I am leaning towards returning to that area to practice in the future. I will probably begin at a law firm that has practice areas in corporate and commercial litigation. I have become more and more interested in products liability litigation as well. Ultimately I have to wait and see how the job market fares over the next year. I would also love to clerk for a Judge again at some point.
Anything else you’d like alums, current players, fans and blog readers to know?
Kate: Seven years at Washington & Lee will be a gift of significant proportion in the future and I will strive to use it to the best of my ability. So thankful that four of those years were filled with lacrosse! GO GENERALS!

2009 Alumnae Game Recap

Saturday, October 10th was our 5th Annual Alumnae Women's Lacrosse Game. The team was joined by (from left to right) Katie Flippen '09, Sarah Tilbor '08, Kelsi Robinson '09, former assistant coach Rachel Barr, Christine Bender '08 and Kelly Evans '07 for a morning of competitive lacrosse.

It was a great day for Generals Women's Lax due to both the strong play on the field and the opportunity for our recently graduated alums to connect with former teammates and to meet some of the new faces on our squad.

We hope all of our Alumnae enjoyed Homecoming Weekend and look forward to seeing you at our games this spring!

Fall Ball Update and First Annual W&L Fall Scrimmage Day

The fall season for the Generals has flown by this year. We are beginning our last week of practice tomorrow, followed by our annual Alumnae game on Saturday, October 10th. Yesterday, October 4th, we held our first annual Fall Scrimmage Day on the turf field. It was great getting the chance to compete against outside opponents after working hard and challenging each other for the past three weeks.
Our Seniors, Laura Cavanaugh (Pylesville, MD/North Harford HS), Meredith Freeman (St. Louis, MO/MICDS), Julia Gotwald (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen's&St.Agnes) and Britten Mathews (Richmond, VA/Collegiate) shared their thoughts on the fall season has gone thus far:

"We are so excited to be back with the team! The days of working hard are finally paying off and we as a team have decided to be in better shape than we've ever been. Our fall season has been a great opportunity for our team to begin the bonding process and for individuals to get comfortable playing with each other. It's also been a chance for players to get stronger and faster. This will hopefully continue throughout the winter and give us a head start when the spring season starts in January. Our practices have been very productive on both ends of the field and we cannot wait to see it all come together in the scrimmages against Guilford and Lynchburg. With all the work we have put into our fall season so far there is no doubt that we will crush any ODAC opponent who comes our way. As seniors, we have put a lot of emphasis on introducing the first years to our program and making sure that all of our teammates are one hundred percent dedicated to our end goal: reclaiming the ODAC championship!"

The team's hard work definitely did pay off yesterday and we proved that if we keep it up we will surely be top competitors in the ODAC this spring. We opened the day with a scrimmage against Lynchburg at 11AM. At 12PM Lynchburg and Guilford played each other and then at 1PM we were back on the field to take on Guilford. Both games were successful in that we executed much of what we've been emphasizing at practice. No score was kept, however we had great offensive plays generated by quick and precise ball movement from our attacking end of the field. The defense did not disappoint either - we communicated loudly, our collapses were quick in the 8M and our on-ball pressure definitely rattled our opponents. We received stellar play from our First-Year Goalkeeper Alex Hamill (Darien, CT/Darien) who remained very strong and consistent throughout both scrimmages.

The day ended with a chance for us to hang out and catch up with our #1 fan Maggie and her family. Maggie is our adoptee through the Friends of Jacyln program and she loves Generals' Women's Lacrosse. We were very happy to give her the opportunity to watch us play well on the field and to have her and her family's support.