By Bridget Letukas
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/5/09
One can just imagine Great Valley’s Kristina Hahn’s personal calendar these days.
Lacrosse playoff. Study for finals. Senior Prom. Trip to Dominican Republic. 
Graduation.
They say life comes at you fast, and, if anyone knows, it’s the versatile and congenial Hahn. In fact, so accustomed to the clip of life is the scholar-athlete, she refused to let a potential career-ending ankle injury slow her down and keep her on the sidelines.
Having, an Honorable Mention All-American pick last year on defense for a Patriots team that reached the District 1 Class AA championship game, sustained a torn tendon during her soccer season last autumn. Hahn had hoped for full recovery by the start of spring training this year. Unfortunately, as the lacrosse season came around, the ankle was not ready.
Hahn, however, was.
As a result, seasoned Great Valley coach Joe Tornetta and staff kept the tenacious Hahn on the field, rotating her from position to position to help coddle the tender ankle. Hahn enjoyed a standout season, earning first-team All-Ches-Mont League honors in helping the Patriots finish 12-7 while earning a ticket to the District 1 playoffs where they fell in the second round to top-ranked Radnor.
“It was tough,” said Hahn. “It was like I was in a cast.”
Just as Hahn’s lacrosse career did not succumb to the persistent injury, neither did the rest of her busy schedule. Hahn, the Longstreth Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week, continued to serve on her school’s Athletic Leadership Council. She also kept up her work with kids, as well as her 3-day-a-week internship at a local hospital.
Ultimately, her ability to shadow nurses and doctors helped affirm her decision to attend the University of Pittsburgh’s and enroll in the school’s touted nursing program. Hahn, who recently was named the winner of the Al Como Award for the Outstanding Senior Female Athlete at Great Valley, will continue playing lacrosse at the club level..
“I’ve always wanted to go into healthcare,” she says. “My aunt’s a doctor. I’ve seen a lot of experiences with her.”
So, too, has Hahn seen many experiences with her fellow Patriots, and she’s grateful that her injury didn’t keep her off the field with them in her final season. Great Valley suffered through a difficult stretch midway through the year when they lost five straight games, but they rebounded to win their final three games of the regular season to gain the playoff berth.
“A lot of us are close,” she said. “A lot of us had played together, and that brought us together through the tough times.
“We were down, but we brought ourselves up out of it, and we made it to playoffs. That chemistry helped our team to succeed in the end.”
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