The McNicholas Milestone

For every high school, there is an essence of tradition surrounding each athletic event. Whether it be football, basketball, soccer, or any others, athletes’ views differ due to the school, outside activities, and what they want to do when they grow up. However, there is a depth of personality that can be lost when viewing athletes playing their respective sports alone.

Lauren Johnson is a freshman soccer player. “I like to play soccer and basketball, hang out with friends and my favorite thing to do outside of soccer, basketball is baking,” Johnson said. She is also the point guard for the Women’s Freshman Basketball Team.

“Coming in as a freshman was very scary at first but then once I met everyone they were really nice and I felt better,” Johnson said.

As a student athlete, Lauren is an outside and center defender for the Women’s Varsity Soccer Team, and though she doesn’t have a pregame ritual she has a lucky hair tie she wears for every game.  She said the shift from Guardian Angels and club soccer to McNicholas soccer very was different. “[McNick] soccer is different from club soccer because at McNick there is more of a family that is built between the team which helps especially for me as a freshman to be comfortable out of the field,” Johnson said. “Playing soccer for McNick is such a different experience than any other sport team I have ever played on. There is such a strong connection between everyone in the program. I get excited about going to practice and games because no matter what happened during the day you know that at soccer someone is going to be there to cheer you up.”

For her future, Johnson wants to pursue an engineering degree in college and continue her soccer career. She is interested in Duke, University of Cincinnati, University of Florida, and The University of North Carolina.