Mount St. Mary’s women’s lacrosse senior Mackey Fick recently chatted with PressBox about growing up in a Mount lacrosse family, how coaching young players has helped her game and more. The 5-foot-9 defender picked up 25 ground balls and caused 11 turnovers for the Mountaineers in 2025. Fick is a native of Lutherville and graduate of Maryvale Prep.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in lacrosse?
Mackey Fick: I grew up in a sports, lacrosse family. I grew up playing lacrosse, basketball, soccer, all the sports. I kind of just fell in love with lacrosse. It was always my favorite sport growing up and just decided to stick with it through high school, middle school and eventually college.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
MF: Definitely my dad, [Patrick]. He was my coach growing up in lacrosse. He actually went to the Mount as well, so just always looked up to him. He was always my biggest supporter and taught me everything I know about lacrosse.
PB: Your mother, Bridget, also played at the Mount. What was it like growing up in a lacrosse family? Did you always want to follow in their footsteps and go to the Mount?
MF: It was definitely always something in the back of my mind. Growing up, we would come to the Mount lacrosse games because my dad just loved coming back here, supporting the team. He was super close with his coach, [Tom Gravante], so we would always come up to the games to see the team, see him. But also being from Baltimore, such a big lacrosse area, there was a lot of lacrosse around me growing up, which I loved. I loved being right in the middle of it. Coming up here when I was younger, I always liked it. Getting a chance to play here like them, it’s been awesome.
PB: Why did you choose to go to the Mount once you got into the recruiting process?
MF: The Mount is just such an amazing place. It’s such a close, tight-knit community and it really does feel like a family here. It is a smaller school, but it’s so awesome to go to class. The professors know your name. They know who you are. They know you’re on the lacrosse team and all kinds of things like that. The team is awesome. It’s just such an awesome community and there are so many amazing people here, such a beautiful campus, it was an easy decision to come here.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at the Mount so far?
MF: Definitely last spring, so my junior season. We played [MAAC power] Fairfield at home in the regular season and we beat them. It was so awesome to beat them at home. It was just a great day. It was so great to beat them at home. It was so fun.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Emmitsburg?
MF: Probably the mountains and the beautiful views. Our practice has an amazing view of the mountains, so each season we get to watch it change, especially in the fall when the mountains are all different fall colors. It’s pretty to look at and see all the beautiful scenes here.
PB: Lauren Skellchock has been the coach at the Mount for more than a decade. What are her expectations for her defenders?
MF: She obviously has high expectations for us. She always says, “Our team is rooted in our defense. It starts with our defense and it translates to our offense from there.” She just expects us to play aggressive, play as a team — like one defensive unit — and play together, for each other.
PB: You’ve picked up 65 ground balls the past two seasons. What’s the art of picking up a ground ball?
MF: I think just going at it fast and aggressive and not being afraid to run through it. You might get a little hit here and there. Just being aggressive and thinking to yourself you know you’re going to win this ground ball and be the first one to it and pick it up, just being confident in yourself that you’re going to get it and you will.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
MF: My best friend on the team is MK Allingham. She’s a senior as well. She’s my freshman year roommate and my roommate ever since then, all four years. She’s just awesome. She’s the biggest hype woman, most energetic, gets everyone so excited for everything — the biggest supporter, cheerleader. She’s always yelling at me from across the field after something happens and always supporting me. She’s the best friend ever.
PB: Who was the player you first looked up to at the Mount?
MF: I would say Margaret Lonergan. She was a senior when I was a freshman. She was such an awesome defender. I wanted to be just like her. She was just so fun to watch.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players going through the recruiting process?
MF: Everything is going to work out how it’s supposed to. It seems so scary and intimidating, but know that everyone’s timeline and recruiting process is different. Don’t worry about if your friends are already committed or where your friends are looking and things like that. Just know it’ll be OK. My experience and process is different than theirs. Know at the end of the day, you’re going to end up where you’re supposed to.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
MF: I coach club in the summer, so I want to continue coaching lacrosse, just being in the lacrosse environment. My major is sports management, so also just staying in the sports world — hopefully something in that area. We’ll see what happens from there.
PB: What team do you coach in the summer? How does that help you as a player?
MF: Coppermine Lacrosse, 2029s. I think it’s really eye-opening being able to see what goes on, even at the younger age how it all plays out from a coaching perspective. Even relating it to my play, “Oh, this was the slide you were supposed to do,” or, “This is how the slide package works.” Just seeing that from an outside perspective, I’m a really visual learner, so it helps being able to see it from these younger girls. “Oh, this is what happens at the Mount, too,” stuff like that.
Photo Credit: John Bowers
Issue 297: February / March 2026
Originally published Feb. 18, 2025