Not Too Lax

She knew it wasn't going to be easy. So did the coach. So did the team.

And in the end, she couldn't do it. Harvard women's lacrosse Co-Captain Blair Wardenburg and her team lost the Ivy League title for the first time in six years.

On a sunny day late in April in Hanover, N.H., Dartmouth slipped past the laxwomen, 10-9, to claim the Ivy crown. For Wardenburg, it was the low point in her four-year lacrosse career.

But there were also highs this year.

Wardenburg flipped in 32 goals and recorded six assists to finish third on the team in scoring. She was named first-team All-Ivy and second-team All-America. And in early April, she led her team to an 8-7 triumph over Maryland, the eventual NCAA champion.

Wardenburg finished her career with 60 goals and 13 assists. She played on three Ivy championship teams and on three squads that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. This year she led a team composed primarily of freshmen and sophomores to an 11-4 overall record, 5-1 in the Ivy League.

And although it will not be easy to escape the memory of that final Ivy loss to Dartmouth, Wardenburg--a History and Science concentrator who hopes to follow a career in public health--will always remember lacrosse fondly.

"It's been fantastic," Wardenburg says. "I'll really miss it."