Stevenson women’s lacrosse senior Hanna Ash recently chatted with PressBox about pursuing nursing at Stevenson, her advice for younger players and more. The 5-foot-7 defender picked up 26 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers for the Mustangs in 2022. Ash is a native of Prince Frederick, Md., and graduate of Huntingtown High School.
PressBox: How did you first become interested in lacrosse?
Hanna Ash: I was actually a field hockey player at first. My now-best-friend’s mother was actually the coach. At the end of the season [in sixth grade], she just handed me a stick and said that I would be a good fit for a lacrosse player. She taught me everything I needed to know over the winter, tried out for lacrosse in the spring and it was pretty smooth after that.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
HA: Definitely my best friend, [Abbie Pike], and her mom, [Maggie Pike]. Her mom was my first-ever athletic coach. Like I said, I started with field hockey first. Without her, I definitely wouldn’t be I am today — or without my best friend, honestly. We were pretty inseparable throughout middle school and high school, especially with lacrosse. We were captains together. She’s obviously had a big effect on who I am, especially in that role as a captain.
PB: Why did you choose to come to Stevenson?
HA: I will say I was first attracted to the school for their nursing program, but one of my travel coaches coached one of the girls that went to Stevenson for nursing. She actually played lacrosse. Her name is Carly Bowes. He put me in touch with Carly, and I believe that she was the one that put a good word in for me with the assistant coach who was recruiting at the time. It was pretty smooth from there. I really did want to go there for nursing. I like the area. I like the size of the school. And obviously for my degree, it’s really nice having all the hospitals around in Baltimore, but honestly doing lacrosse is just an added bonus. The girls are so nice. Honestly, it’s a great way to relieve some college stress.
PB: How is nursing going for you?
HA: I actually recently got hired at Johns Hopkins and I start July 31, pending I pass the NCLEX. I’m going to be a pediatric RN. … I recently had a clinical on the unit, actually, that I am going to be working for. The nursing staff was absolutely amazing. I had really amazing patients. I realized that I can connect with kids really well. I have worked in jobs that have allowed me to connect with kids. I think I can get along with them. I used to ref for lacrosse, I used to be a volunteer field hockey coach, so definitely a lot with kids growing up. It was kind of a surprise, but I really did like the unit. I liked treating children more than I thought I would.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at Stevenson?
HA: Gong to the MAC [Commonwealth] championship. That was last year. We didn’t win, but I was honestly really happy to be there, especially for the seniors. I was a junior at the time. The seniors went to the MAC championship when they were freshmen, so I wasn’t quite there yet. I believe they were projected to win, but they ended up losing that year. So when I came in as a freshman, everyone was very much dead set on making it back to the MAC championship, which we never did until I was a junior. Honestly, I was really, really proud that I helped get those girls a chance to go back there again, even if we lost.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Owings Mills?
HA: I like that it’s close to a lot of different stores. It is decently close to Towson, so I kind of like going to the mall or going to restaurants in Towson. I think it’s fun. There are also more things to do around Owings Mills than you’d think. I like going to the T.J.Maxx and Marshall’s and they have a thrift store. You can [go to] a lot of different places around there.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Stevenson University?
HA: My favorite thing right now is probably the lacrosse program. The culture was pretty intense when I came in, which I adapted to quickly and I like. I’m really glad that we maintained such a competitive culture there, but we’re also having fun with our teammates. We really are a family.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
HA: My best friend right now is probably Erin Olenchalk. She is also a senior. We are actually the only two seniors left. We came in with about six or seven when I was a freshman, and it’s just me and Erin [now]. It’s not that we didn’t get along at first, we just didn’t live together so our friendship was a little bit delayed. … She was a defender, I was a defender, so obviously we practiced together a lot, which was really nice. I live with her now, and I’ve lived with her for three years. We ended up just getting along really well.
PB: Who’s a player you looked up to when you first got to Stevenson?
HA: We all called her Kiki. Her name is Kirsten Foster. She just graduated. She was a sophomore when I was a freshman, and I played with her a lot. She kind of put me at ease because playing with girls that are four years older than you can be a little bit intimidating. She was such a great leader and a great friend, honestly.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players who are going through the recruiting process?
HA: I would definitely say to make sure you go and visit your schools. I think you can learn a lot about your athletic program and your school’s culture at the same time. I wouldn’t go to a school purely based off of athletics, either, so definitely make sure that you like other aspects of your school outside of athletic world, because while a lot of the athletic world can be really, really fun, it can also be stressful at times for student-athletes. So having another outlet — liking other things about your school besides the athletic part — I think can be valuable to your recruiting process.
Photo Credit: Sabina Moran/SKM Photography
Issue 279: February/March 2023
Originally published Feb. 15, 2023