Lavelle succeeding on ice, greens

By LAUREN KOCUR
Collegian Staff Writer

Many athletes who come to Penn State from Canada do so to play hockey.

Andrea Lavelle did it to play golf, too.

Lavelle began to play hockey just about when she learned to walk and golf when she was 12 years old.

Playing both sports is something Lavelle made sure she was able to do throughout her life. She played both in high school, playing golf in the summer and hockey the rest of the year. Penn State was the only place that let her play both and had her intended major of administration of justice.

Lavelle is only a freshman, but has already made her mark as a starting golfer and Lady Icer.

In her first hockey game at Penn State, Lavelle scored five goals to help defeat Syracuse. In her first match as a golfer she placed seventh, the highest ranking on the team.

She began her golf career by entering a tournament just for fun. When her future coach saw her play, he thought she had potential and began working with her. He coached her right up until she got to Penn State.

Lavelle decided to come to Penn State so she would be able to play both hockey and golf. The different seasonal schedules permitted her to play, and excel, at both.

"We nicknamed Andrea our, 'Extreme golfer,' " senior golfer Sara Doell said. "She's into everything like snowboarding, skiing and hockey."

Lavelle has been a consistent starter for the Icers and the women's golf team. The coaches of both teams wouldn't have it any other way, and neither would she.

While she loves golf, hockey is something she said she will never be able to do without.

"Hockey is my passion," she said. "I love it. It's something I could never give up."

Coming from Whitby, a town just outside Toronto, it's no wonder Lavelle and her family are huge hockey fans. Her high school had a women's hockey team, but no women's golf.

In order to play both sports, Lavelle joined the men's golf team in high school, and never felt out of place.

Lavelle is one type of person you cannot keep down.

"Andrea is definitely a free spirit," golfer Laura Hammond said. "That'd be the best way to describe her. She doesn't really care what anyone thinks about what she's doing. If she's enjoying it, she's going to keep doing it no matter what."

It is this attitude that has propelled Lavelle to the top. Her free spirit led her to sign up for a tournament for kicks when she was 12 that others joined competitively. It also led her to join the men's golf team so she could compete in what she loved.

Even if she's not at the top, Lavelle takes great pride in her teammates' accomplishments.

"She has a great attitude about life," Doell said. "She just rolls with it and doesn't let stuff bother her. You can always expect her to say something to totally lighten the mood. Even if she golfed a 90, she'd be really proud of the rest of the team for doing really well."

Lavelle is also handling the pressures of being an athlete (twice over) and a freshman. Her ability to bounce back from mistakes has allowed her to learn from everyone around her and to balance sports and school.

The fact that she is merely a freshman has had no effect on her standing as a golfer. She has traveled with the team since the very beginning and handles the pressure excellently. Lavelle is also a leader of the freshmen. As the only one to travel this year, she pushes the rest of them to follow and strive to travel as well.

"She has done a great job handling the pressure of travelling and being a freshman," Doell said. "There is really no pressure put on a freshman who's travelling to perform, but the pressure comes from themselves."