From time to time I get an email or letter from field hockey alums letting me know what they are up to and more often than not express appreciation for their years of Division One Field Hockey at Lafayette. I got one such email from Liza Welch of the class of 2019.
Liza was a chemistry major and distinguished herself in the classroom. She is working for a computational chemistry company, Schroedinger, that makes software for drug discovery and materials science research. She didn’t want to work for big Pharma and takes great pride in working for a company that makes drug discovery research accessible to smaller companies.
She remarked how she has friends for life as a result of her time with Lafayette Field Hockey . As she entered the workforce she feels MILES ahead of everyone she works with, given the intensity of her athletic experience. ” I legitimately cannot be more thankful that I was able to instill myself in a program like Lafayette’s.”
She played in the USA Field Hockey’s Young Women’s Championship scoring a difficult goal….remarking how she almost felt famous and gained a lot of confidence for her senior season!!! While at Lafayette she had worked her way to the top of the fitness test her junior year, even though she was not the fastest on the team!! She and Sophie Carr, who was rehabilitating a knee, enjoyed pushing her teammates and making it fun! For all of you current players “enjoying” spring training, Liza said if there was some way to transport myself to spring training , I’d do it in a heartbeat.
What is not well known is that Liza had vision issues, and had cataract surgery in 2016 and 2018. She also had it done again in 2021. Her coaches said she made other people better on the field once she got her vision back.
She is grateful to her team of surgeons at Mass Eye and Ear that preserved her vision. It is with that in mind, she is running in the Boston Marathon to raise money for their practice. She training as hard as she can, much like she did at Lafayette. She is not aiming just to finish, but to do the best she can.
If you would like to support Liza, please contact her directly. Do not use the given gain web site as they charge a 5% fee!!
Lafayette College Field Hockey 