After Overcoming Injuries, Anderson Leads CVHS Girls Lacrosse Team

Name: Hayley Anderson 

Age: 17 

School: Centreville High School 

Accomplishment: A torn ACL and multiple stress fractures within the last two years haven’t stopped this student athlete from making an impact on her lacrosse team. 

Key to Awesomeness: Hayley Anderson’s first encounter with lacrosse as a young girl wasn’t a positive one; it ended with her older brother pegging the ball at her chest and completely knocking the wind out of her. After this startling experience, she swore she’d never play again.  

But by the time Hayley reached seventh grade, she couldn’t deny her knack for the sport. Anderson comes from a family of talented lacrosse players; both of her brothers play and three of her uncles were collegiate All-Americans.  

At , Hayley made the as a freshman and served as one of the Team Captains when she was just a sophomore. Last season she was also named to the First Team All-District, was an All-Region Honorable Mention, and scored 47 goals.  

Anderson is a Team Captain again this year, and has so far scored 15 goals and has 9 assists.  

“She is very focused, driven, and leads by example,” Head Coach Brian Newell said of Hayley. Newell believes these qualities allowed Anderson to recover quickly after tearing her ACL in June. “She came back stronger, faster, and better than ever in just six months,” he said. 

In turn, Hayley attributes much of her drive to Coach Newell’s leadership. “He is so dedicated to the program,” she said, “He has made me so passionate about the game and has turned the Centreville Girls Lacrosse program around like no one else could have done.” 

Newell says Hayley Anderson has shown impressive evolution as an athlete. “Last year when I came in Hayley was just a fast girl who only took right hand shots,” he said, “She’s turned into a complete player; she’s all over the field, can use either hand effectively in passing and shooting, and she has incredible speed.”

Hayley’s speed on the field also holds true on the track. In addition to playing lacrosse, she has competed on the varsity cross country team in the fall and varsity indoor track team in the winter for CVHS since her freshman year. Hayley has lettered twice on both teams and last year was a member of the First Team All-District for cross country and was a 4 x 800 district champion for indoor track. She also plays club lacrosse for Future Elite. 

Despite playing on various sports teams year round, Anderson finds time to be involved with the National Honor Society, Senior Math Team, Social Studies Honor Society, and maintain a 4.0 GPA. She hopes to one day attend a highly selective Division I school that reflects her commitment to both academics and athletics.  

For now, Hayley continues to make her mark on the CVHS team. “Right now we’re really trying to build the program,” she said, “I hope I have had the impact of making everyone really serious and excited about the sport.”