Sara LeBlond

The Harvard field hockey team is going to miss captain Sara (Blondie) LeBlond when she graduates this June. Not only does LeBlond stabilize the defense and provide leadership, but she also tells the best dirty jokes on the squad.

"Sara gets along with everyone on the team," says teammate and fellow four-year varsity field hockey veteran, Ann MacMillan. "She makes everyone feel comfortable and she always keeps everyone's spirits up by telling jokes."

Getting along with people comes naturally for the art history major. The second youngest of ten children, Sara never lacked playmates and, coming from such a large athletic family, she was bound to become involved in sports. Her mother captained three teams while attending Hartwill College and Sara's father played varsity soccer and baseball at Princeton. All six of her brothers participate in sports and the two brothers closest in age to the 21-year-old right halfback used to drag her along to their ice hockey games to make the teams even.

But field hockey is not the type of sport that you play with other kids down the block. It was not until Sara reached seventh grade that she was introduced to the game.

"I loved field hockey as soon as I started playing. It immediately became my favorite sport," the Winthrop House resident says.

After Sara graduated from New Canaan Country Day school in ninth grade, she enrolled in the Hotchkiss School in northwestern Connecticut and played varsity field hockey for three years. To cap off her high school career, she was elected captain her senior year.

After coming to Harvard, LeBlond picked up where she left off in high school, starting as a halfback and playing solid defense. She spent her first year here at leftback but moved to rightback her sophomore year.

"She's a real dynamo on the field," field hockey coach Edie MacAusland says. "She plays with desire and spirit. I only wish I had 11 Sara LeBlonds out there on the field."

Sara has started at right halfback for the past three years and has gotten better with each new season. "Her ability as a player really improved this year. She was a tough person to get by on defense and was very effective when bringing the ball through on offense," MacAusland says.

Duties

Defense is certainly not the most glamorous of all positions, but that doesn't bother LeBlond in the least. "I don't miss scoring at all. I'd rather help keep away goals than score them." What makes Sara such an exceptional player is her ability to anticipate the other team's next move and come up with the key interception or tackle.

"Sara is not the fastest player on the team, but she makes up for her lack of speed with great positioning. She almost never overcommits," MacAusland says. "What makes Blondie special is that she receives the ball, accelerates and then looks for the pass rather than stop and give the other team a chance to gain possession." MacMillan adds, "She is a sparkplug, an energizer for the team."

Sara's most memorable moment of her field hockey career came during her sophomore year in a game against UPenn. "We were leading Penn by one goal and the Penn team had been awarded a penalty corner. I was standing in the goal, next to the post when the ball went over the goalie's head. I just stuck up my hand and stopped the ball. I've never seen anyone look as grateful as the goalie did."

All in all, though, LeBlond feels that this year was her best. "It finally all clicked together. And of course, we beat Yale for the first time in three years."

Now that the field hockey season has come to a close, Sara can devote more time to nautilus, a hobby she picked up two years ago while staying in Cambridge for the summer.

In the spring, LeBlond will trade her field hockey stick for a bat and glove to play softball for the fourth consecutive year with four of her roommates. Last year Sara alternated between third base, left field, and designated hitter while batting .371 and knocking in 15 runs.

"Sara was a strong positive force on the team," said last year's softball coach Kit Morris. "Her warmth and humor really stood out on a team full of warm, outgoing individuals."

LeBlond is unsure of her future plans. Perhaps a job at a museum or coaching, but no matter what path she chooses, she plans to stay active and hopes to find a club or team for which she can continue to play field hockey.

***

A lonesome snowflake or two fell to the ground as a cold wind blew across the field. Harvard had just lost its final game of the 1981 season to Dartmouth, 2-0. The faces of the Harvard field hockey team are filled with disappointment as they head towards the locker room. The glum mood continues to hang over the team as the players change. Sara breaks the silence with one of her patented jokes and gets the team laughing and smiling again.

The field hockey team is going to miss LeBlond.