By JENNIFER GROSKREUTZ
For the second year in a row, Maren Hendershot has been named to the West Region First Team by the NSCAA. Along with that honor, Hendershot captured the conference player of the year and MWC Tournament MVP in 1999.
She also finished second in the league in scoring with 15 goals and 38 points total.
Naturally, it would appear that this senior All-American’s life is consumed with soccer.
At the age of 13 she began traveling from her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., to Denver, an hour commute each way, so she could play on a club team. She said she did join her high school team, but it wasn’t as good as the club team.
“In Utah it seems like high school soccer is first, and club team is second,” she said. “In Colorado, it’s the opposite.”
One of her greatest high school achievements happened during her junior year when she was the state’s leading scorer.
Until the age of 18, she made her Denver commute sometimes as much as five times a week. She said she can remember how hectic her daily schedule was at that time.
“I’d go home and grab something to eat,” she said. “Then I’d usually take a nap in the car. On the way home, I’d do my homework with a flashlight in my mouth, and I was trying to eat dinner, too.”
She admitted her average day sounded kind of crazy. But she said she couldn’t be where she is today if she didn’t follow that pattern.
At BYU she has started and played in every game except for the match against New Mexico this year. She had to sit out because of an injury to her right quad in a match against Harvard.
“That was very hard for me. It only took a month to heal,” she said with a smile and a hint of sarcasm.
When she came to BYU her freshman year, the women’s soccer program was two years old. She said benefits of that year included the excitement of playing in Division I soccer with an entire LDS team, starting and the fact that the Cougars only lost one game that season.
As a sophomore, Hendershot said she struggled along with the team. Personally she said she was moved around in lots of different positions which didn’t help her game. But, her junior year made up for that.
“I came into my own,” she said. “It was exciting to see that for myself. To even reach All-American, I never thought that would actually happen.”
The glory didn’t stop there. She said her senior year has been incredible. This year has given the team a chance to see what they can do together.
“We won the conference. We won 21 games,” she said.
BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said Hendershot has been a great strength to the team in its history.
“She’s been a huge part of the success of our program. She’s a true leader in every sense of the word, on and off the field,” she said.
Rockwood also said that when you watch Hendershot on the field, you can see how much she loves the game.
Part of that love for the game probably comes from the team word this season–synergy. Hendershot said synergy has been a huge factor in the team’s success.
“It’s amazing how trials bring people together,” she said. “It’s awesome to see how our team has overcome them.”
Perhaps the most important message Hendershot would like to convey is that soccer is not the only thing in her life.
“It’s a part of it. I have passion and love for it,” she said. “But, it doesn’t consume my life.”
Sometimes people think that to be a great athlete you must make your sport your life, she said. But, she said it’s really all about balance.
