By Molly Tow
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/11/11
Holton Arms School (MD) rising senior goalie Courtney Rushford has committed to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Pennsylvania and begin the admissions process.
Rushford, who plays club lacrosse for Capital Lacrosse Club, was named an Academic All-American and Honorable Mention in The Gazette in 2011.
Rushford plans to study Business and Marketing while at Penn.
Penn was a late find for Rushford, but once she toured the campus and met the team, she knew the school was a good fit.
“I hadn’t really considered Penn when I initially started my college search, but my club coach [Gloria Lozano] was an assistant coach at Penn and introduced the idea to me,” said Rushford. “I went up for my first visit and I knew that it was definitely the school for me. The coaches seemed so invested in the program and I really connected with them. The players were fun, they were great, and I could really see myself getting into the program and the school.”
Lozano isn’t Capital Lacrosse Club’s only association with Penn. Rushford’s other club coach, Bethany Warren, is also a Penn lacrosse alum, and Penn rising sophomore defender Lydia Miller played for Capital while she was in high school.
While at Penn, Rushford will play under coach Karin Bower Corbett, who has been the head coach of the Quakers for 13 years. Corbett, who was named 2007 National Coach of the Year by both IWLCA & Inside Lacrosse, led Penn to the NCAA finals in 2008 and to win its first Ivy League Tournament at Franklin Field in 2010.
In its 2011 season, Penn made the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championships for the fifth year in the row, finishing with an overall record of 11-6, 6-1 in its conference. The Quakers concluded their season with a loss to No.5 seed Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Rising seniors from the Philadelphia area that have already committed to playing lacrosse at Penn are midfielder Brooke Kiley (Germantown Academy) and midfielder Iris Williamson (Germantown Friends).
Rushford is expecting Holton Arms to improve in 2012.
“We recently just hired a new coach [Janet McCormick] who will really be able to turn the program around, and I think everyone is really excited to have her come in and start working with us,” she said. “I want to focus on team bonding, both on and off the field, and work more offseason, so we’re better prepared for the actual spring season.”
Note: All student-athletes must continue through the admissions process when applying to Ivy League schools.
