By Kim J. Harmon

If Newtown High School senior Moira Collier put all of her accomplishments down on a resume, someone might accuse of her of padding.

Come on – who earns 12 varsity letters?1 And who gets to be a member of seven conference championship teams?

Collier, 17, who will be on her way to Ithaca College in a couple of months, isn’t padding her resume and her accomplishments speak for themselves. And although she was never the fastest runner on the cross country or indoor track team and never the leading scorer on the lacrosse team, one does not start for four years on three different teams without being a major component of all three teams.

“I never really thought about (earning 12 letters),” said Moira, who just last week scored a goal in Newtown’s 14-10 win Brookfield in the South-West Conference girls’ lacrosse championship and, at the same time, was named Academic All-American. “I knew it was there, but I never focused on it.”

It seems kind of funny, too, considering Moira – the fourth of five Collier children – hated sports when she was a little kid. No, she did a little Irish dancing and played a little piano but when it came to sports she was mostly a spectator at her siblings’ games.

But Moira – who said, “I never felt like I was an athletic kind of kid” – could only hold it off for so long. And, so, around fourth or fifth grade, she stopped fiddling on the piano and dancing to Irish tunes and picked up a basketball.

“I don’t really know what happened,” she said. “My siblings looked like they were having so much fun.”

So it was basketball early on (not soccer) and then the cross country club at Newtown Middle School. Still a little reluctant to jump in the pool, Moira had to be dragged to her first cross country practice at the high school by her sister, Kelly.

“I was really upset about that, too,” said Moira. “I liked running, but had no idea was cross country was about.”

She learned, though.

“I loved it so much and it was such a nice team,” said Moira, who was a part of four championship units – one with former coach Marsha Caine and three with current coach Doug Russell. “The first time we were in the SWCs it was really exciting. It was weird to be with all these other teams when we’re used to running against just one. It was kind of overwhelming.”

Soon after, the winter season of her freshman year came along.

“Some people asked me if I would do basketball,” said Moira, “but there wasn’t a question in my mind. I went along with the group of kids from cross country to indoor track.”

Indoor track and field is kind of a fringe sport at the high school, existing somewhat in obscurity due to the paucity of events that take place deep into the night at facilities fairly far removed from Newtown. But those who toil there exhibit the same dedication that athletes from the 21 other sports do.

They have goals, too.

“My most memorable moment came in indoor track,” said Moira. “Michelle Brennan and I had always had a goal to beat six minutes in the mile together and one night at Wesleyan we did it. It was one of the happiest moments of my indoor experience.”

Then came spring – and lacrosse.

Lacrosse has always been big in the Collier household. Moira’s father, Bob, played lacrosse at Boston College and was inducted in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame there and introduced his kids to the sport real early, bringing home toy sticks so the family can pass the ball around in the backyard.

Moira’s oldest sister, Caitlin, played lacrosse at Newtown High School and currently is second on the all-time scoring list with 134 goals. Older sister Kelly also played and finished a stellar career of her own with 68 goals.

Then came Moira2.

“My older sisters were having so much fun with it,” said Moira. “I wanted to try track, but I couldn’t imagine not playing lacrosse.”

And in four years of starting in the midfield – and scoring 53 goals along the way – she helped the team win three South-West Conference championships.

“I can’t even believe it now,” said Moira, who, last year, bid farewell to prolific scorers Karli Beitel and Lauren Ciccomascolo – not to mention MVP goaltender Kerrie Canavan. “Every year we lose a couple of players and I’ll think, oh no, what will we do. I had no idea what this season would be like.”

Not right away, at any rate. But from the first day of practice Moira – like everyone else – had the sense that things would work out okay. Because the 2006 Lady Nighthawks were so deep with talent, no one had a chance to see what players like Rachel Maley, Courtney Gleason, Jen Greenwood and Betsy Vendel could do.

But it became abundantly clear what they could do in 2007 … after the ‘Hawks defeated Joel Barlow, 13-7, in the second game of the season.

And while those girls fueled an amazingly prolific offense (266 goals in 19 games), Moira continued to be a central figure in one of the strongest midfield units in the conference. But that’s okay with her – let someone else finish first in a race and let someone else score the goals.

“I never thought about it that way,” said Moira. “I never liked to be in the spotlight. I was always really happy for my teammates and I felt good for them.”

Now we can feel good for Moira – 12 varsity letters and a share of seven conference championships.

Wow.

1Okay, classmate Joe DeVellis earned his 12th varsity letter this year, but the last one believed to have done it was Melissa Eigen over 10 years ago.

 

2 The Collier sisters have totaled 255 goals between them, second only to the Kirch brothers, Casey and Kyle, who tallied 265.