By Bridget Letukas
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/29/09
In her final season at Lehigh University, Sara MacIntyre is leaving everything on the field.
Of course, one look at the senior attack player’s accomplishments might 
suggest that she’s been doing that all along. As a freshman, the graduate of Agnes Irwin School put together one of the greatest rookie season’s in school history and hasn’t looked back ever since.
Named the Patriot Co-Rookie of the Year, she has since been an All-Patriot League selection who has also been listed on the Conference Honor Roll. MacIntyre entered the season with 121 career goals and now has 138 overall, good for fourth place all-time at Lehigh.
Driving the Wapner, Newman, Wigrizer & Brecher Collegiate Scholar-Athlete of the Week is more than just the realization that she is in her final season of competitive lacrosse.
Inspiring MacIntyre’s intensity this season is a journey she took last summer, when she traveled to Africa to teach children in Tanzania for 8 weeks.
Though not a typical summer vacation for a college student between her last two years, MacIntyre decided she would make the trip after being impacted by stories and pictures from a friend who had just returned.
“I always wanted to go, but I didn’t know how,” she explains.
Having seen images of Africa on television and in movies, McIntyre had always felt compelled to reach out to the country’s less fortunate.
“I wished there was something I could do,” she said.
Her friend’s trip prompted her to make the decision.
For two months, MacIntyre instructed school-age children in both a private school and an orphanage – and the experience forever changed her life.
“I came into Lehigh as a finance major,” she said. “I saw myself working on Wall Street. I didn’t necessarily want to do that, but I thought it was the path to go.”
The children of Tanzania, however, gave MacIntyre reason to find a new path.
“If you do something you love, the money will come,” she said of her revised direction, which will now include using her finance background as part of a non-profit organization.
To begin pursuing her goal, MacIntyre was recently accepted into Lehigh’s Master of Political Science program. In addition, she hopes to eventually serve a tour in the Peace Corps.
Following her life-altering summer, MacIntyre is taking nothing for granted on the lacrosse field.
“I see the bigger picture,” she said.
MacIntyre hopes part of that picture includes a Patriot League championship for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh, under the direction of former Ursinus College All-American and World Cup player Jill Redfern, is riding a five-game winning streak and is 7-3 overall.
“We’re doing great,” said McIntyre. “I think we’ve grown so much from my first year. I think we really work together. We’re great friends on and off the field.”
True to her selfless nature, MacIntyre adds a final thought.
“The seniors want to get to the playoffs especially for Jill, not just for us,” she said.
To nominate a collegiate student-athlete for this honor, please e-mail us at golax@phillylacrosse.com.. The athlete must either be from Philadelphia or play in Philadelphia.
Leave a Reply