Free Press girls athlete of the year: Rice's Lisa McNamara

The "whoa" moment comes when Lisa McNamara admits the most stunning fact about her thoroughly impressive run at Rice Memorial High School. The three-sport star, somehow, never made it to a state championship game.

The competitor in her bristles at that reality — especially after reaching the semifinals each season as a senior.

The leader in her has already broken through to the other side of the clouds, where perspective supplies the silver lining.

"That was one of the hardest parts, but that also really developed me as an athlete and made my high school experience with sports so different from other kids," McNamara said. "It's all about the team, being with my team, playing with them, and it's the little victories throughout the season that made it so great."

And rather than dwell on that, the Rice's 2019 class president, at the invitation of her field hockey and lacrosse coach, Kelly McClintock, found an even bigger mountain to climb. It's called Kilimanjaro.

"This is kind of my championship, I would say," said McNamara, who will continue her field hockey career at Providence College in the fall.

Championship or not, though, the dynamic, all-around standout did more than enough in her final year as a Green Knight — she was a first-team all-state pick in each season — to merit this year's Free Press girls athlete of the year honor. 

More:Free Press boys athlete of the year: MMU's Patrick Burke

"What other teams see is this athlete they need to guard and might seem intimidating," McClintock said. "But what we see, her teammates and coaches, is the nicest human being ever.

"She's not always focused on beating her competitors, she's focused on being the best she can be and helping her teammates out."

On the ice, the explosive and hard-nosed former Rice prep player was a Free Press first-team pick at forward after supplying 29 goals and eight assists. In lacrosse, McNamara led her squad in points after tallying 39 goals and 24 assists, cracking the 100-goal club in the process.

More:18th annual Free Press All-State Girls Hockey Team

"I've never seen anyone, even in all my years of playing with male athletes as well, who can go as long and as hard without getting tired," said Rice girls hockey coach Aaron Miller. "Obviously she's so skilled but it's matched by how hard she works." 

And the offensively gifted midfielder earned Free Press player of the year honors in field hockey with a 28-goal, eight-assist season as she spurred Rice to within a goal of the Division I state final.

More:24th Annual Free Press All-State Field Hockey Team

The campaign created a fitting bookend to a still-budding career that began when she first picked up a field hockey stick as a freshman, has taken McNamara to elite national camps. It will continue in the fall with the Friars.

McClintock called the meteoric rise "unfathomable."

"It's so crazy to see the growth. But the most exciting thing to see is finding a kid as a coach and they find their passion," McClintock said. "Lisa just found herself, found her confidence, her passion and became an unbelievable human being." 

The journey included a 50-minutes-each-way commute to Rice from her family's home in Barre and countless weekend trips to Lowell, Massachusetts, the home base for her elite club teams.

The trip to Tanzania in July, an expedition to raise funds for an orphanage, will only bolster McNamara's perspective, resume — and unofficial odometer.

"I've had eight seasons with her. That's a lot of hours when you do the math," McClintock said. "It's a nice final thing to do with someone that you've worked with for so long. It's the ultimate athletic challenge in a different setting and a great way to cap her career off at Rice and send her off to Providence." 

More:The remarkable rise of Rice star Lisa McNamara

This will be McClintock's third such ascent of Kilimanjaro, at more than 19,000 feet the tallest peak on the African continent.

She's invited former players to join the effort before, but McNamara, planning to major in global studies, was the first current player she considered, which says plenty about her star's intangibles. 

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done, it's extremely tolling on your body, but I included Lisa in the group because she can handle it," McClintock said.

"It was about a month process of me trying to convince my parents to say yes, knowing it would be busy summer going into next year," said McNamara, who has sandwiched the adventure between trips to Pennsylvania for national field hockey events. 

And it all started when a freshman said yes to a new sport and never looked back.

"That's the best thing in life as a coach, helping someone find their passion, whether it's the sport you coach or not," McClintock said. "Every coach wants to win a championship but if you can give them tools for their toolbox to succeed in life you're champions right there." 

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Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851  or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @eadanforth. 

Girls Athletes of the Year

2019: Lisa McNamara, Rice

2018: Lydia Maitland, Champlain Valley

2017: Annika Nielsen, South Burlington

2016: Aggie Bisselle, Burr and Burton

2015: Kathleen Young, Essex

2014: Autumn Eastman, Champlain Valley

2013: Anne-Marie Farmer, South Burlington

2012: Mollie Gribbin, South Burlington

2011: Rachel Crews, South Burlington