The year in sports has been marked by various accolades across sports teams. Notably, some senior athletes have broken Hackley records. These athletes include Andy Hegarty from the softball team and Brooke Koffler from the girls’ lacrosse team.
Senior Andy Hegarty has been a part of the Varsity Girls Softball team since her freshman year as a standout player, and is committed to play softball at Lafayette College. Andy led the team to the NYSAIS finals this year, where they lost to Poly eight to three. Andy has been striving for the record, previously held by Dana Van Bueren ‘19, since her freshman year, when she broke it in her junior year. This year, she reached 900 career strikeouts, setting a new record for Hackley Girls Varsity Softball.
“It felt really amazing because when I got to Hackley I feel like all the softball coach told me about was how I would break the record, and it was definitely a little bit of pressure on me to do it, but it also drove me to try my hardest and gave me something to work towards, so I am also like most happy to leave that for someone else to have that feeling and determination to get I think is really cool,” said Andy.
Andy was also a member of the U16 team, the Ireland softball team, where they won bronze, and is playing this year on the U18 team. Some of her stats include averaging 10 strikeouts a game and being one of the best hitters with an average of .586. The Hackley coaches, in addition to her coaches outside of school, had a profound impact on her progress and motivation as a player.
“Coach Margaret definitely contributed a lot, and so did Mrs. Williams just by keeping track, motivating me, and pushing me, because they wanted it just as badly as I did,” said Andy.
Andy’s official career strikeouts have since reached 1017, and will be a difficult record for future players to break. Thus, Andy’s legacy will leave an impact on the Hackley Varsity Softball Team for years to come.
Senior Brooke Koffler has been a standout girls lacrosse player since her freshman year at Hackley. The Johns Hopkins commit has set the career goal record at 305 career goals. This season, Brooke broke the record of 289 career goals against Horace Mann, a record that was previously set by Sammy Mueller in 2016.
“I would say specifically because I knew the person that broke the record previously, and she was just an amazing player, she went to UVA and then Northwestern, and she was a Tewaaraton nominee. She was really good, so even having my name along with her name is such a good feeling because I envy players like that a lot, and she’s really cool, and I look up to her a lot. I mean it’s a goal that I’ve tried to reach for a while, so it’s a really good feeling that I was able to get it,” said Brooke.
Brooke was a two-time all-American in state and has been striving for this record since her freshman year. Brooke is also the captain of the lacrosse team, and when she broke the record, her teammates were really excited.
“It was really hype. It was very special to me because I got the opportunity to practice with Brooke on one every day, and watching her do something that she’s so good at doing, and how the goal was just so natural, it’s the same shot she shoots at me every day. I’m very happy that I was on the field and got to see Brooke be Brooke,” said lacrosse goalie Zena Hume.
The senior class now holds impressive records in the books, leaving their impact on Hackley sports.
