Mt. Hope lacrosse player is All American

Grace Mocalir is the first woman from the school to ear the honor in lacrosse

By Margeaux Gagnon
Posted 6/18/17

Mt. Hope High School junior Grace Moclair has achieved history, becoming the first student to be named to the All American Girls Lacrosse team.

“It’s unreal. When I heard this I was …

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Mt. Hope lacrosse player is All American

Grace Mocalir is the first woman from the school to ear the honor in lacrosse

Posted

Mt. Hope High School junior Grace Moclair has achieved history, becoming the first student to be named to the All American Girls Lacrosse team.

“It’s unreal. When I heard this I was in shock,” Ms. Moclair said. “My coach came in and told me. I never thought it was possible, especially someone from a women’s team and especially from D2. It’s a really amazing feeling to represent the people of Mt. Hope and people from D2. It feels so good to be recognized for all of the hard work that I put in and my team put in. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Grace has played lacrosse all three years of high school, earning Second Team All Division her freshman year, and Second Team All State her sophomore year. She never thought that it was possible for her to make the All American team. 

“This year, my dad and I talked during the preseason and going in we said, ‘OK, no one from D2 has ever been named first-team All State,’” Ms. Moclair said. “I didn’t think that was possible. My coach told me not only did I make first-team All State, but I made All American, and that hasn’t been done in D2 or at Mt. Hope. That’s crazy. I didn’t think that would be achieved this year.”

Going into her senior year, Grace is looking forward to improving her game and helping her team win.

“I just hope to keep improving and do the best that I can especially with my team,” she said. “My freshman and sophomore year, we made it to the championship and I just want to return to the championship and get another shot at winning the title.”

In addition to playing lacrosse in the spring, Ms. Moclair plays volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter. She is also a part of several clubs at her school including Mt. Hope’s Executive Board, where she helps to fundraise and plan school activities such as prom. She has been a freshman mentor since her sophomore year, helping freshmen acclimate to their new environment and make sure they have all the information they need to be successful in high school. Grace also participates in Best Buddies and works with the special needs kids at her school, and goes to different events with Best Buddies including the Best Buddies Ball.

On top of all of that, Grace is also a water tester for the town of Bristol. She wakes up early every other Thursday and goes around to different water sources in the town to make sure the water is in good shape.

Grace says trying to balance everything can be tough, but it has taught her some valuable lessons, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“At times, I find myself staying up very late and having to almost perfectly match up my different schedules,” Ms. Moclair said. “It’s taught me to use all my spare time efficiently and effectively and to be organized because if I’m not organized in one area, it negatively affects all the other areas. But being in extracurricular activities, being involved in school and being involved in sports, it makes me happy and I couldn’t picture my life any other way.”

During the summer, Grace plays competitive lacrosse and focuses on improving and fine-tuning her skills. The competitive lacrosse program has also helped to prepare her for college and the recruiting process. Grace was looking at playing lacrosse at the Division 1 level, but after realizing that she wanted to major in mechanical engineering, she decided to look at lower level programs so she can be successful in both her academic and sporting careers.

“Having that major (mechanical engineering) and playing D1 lacrosse at the same time is a huge responsibility and very hard to do,” she said. “I decided to look at D3 colleges at the end of sophomore year. I went to a clinic my sophomore year and fell in love with the Catholic University of America.”

After the coach expressed interest in Grace, she visited the school and attended another clinic at the university before verbally committing to play D3 women’s lacrosse at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Grace plans to major in mechanical engineering and is looking into the ROTC program for the Air Force.

Mt. Hope High School, All-American

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