Hess commits to Harvard
- Share via
Corona del Mar High senior Katherine Hess took her time in deciding where she wanted to continue her soccer career.
Hess, better known as Kat, waited until after the winter season concluded to make a decision. This past season was a busy one, as she was starting on two teams. She played goalie for the girls’ soccer team as well as forward for the basketball team.
The season officially ended for Hess on Saturday night, when the CdM girls’ hoops team fell at La Cañada in the quarterfinals of the CIF State Southern California Regional Division IV playoffs.
On Wednesday, Hess made what one might call a smart decision. She has committed to play soccer at Harvard. Ivy League schools do not use the National Letter of Intent program.
Hess told friends and family of the decision, and also announced it to her CdM teammates Wednesday night at the girls’ soccer banquet.
“It’s a beautiful campus, and Cambridge is just an incredible place,” said Hess, who took a recruiting trip to Harvard in late January. “It’s cool, because I’ve lived in Newport Beach my whole life and I get to experience something far enough away from home that it’s a whole new world. It’s an amazing place, and I can’t wait until my family comes to visit. Their soccer program is strong, and it’s going to be really fun to see those intense students, passionate students. They just love the game, and the Ivy League really kind of puts that forward for their athletes. They’re really passionate about what they do, and I can’t wait to be part of that environment.”
Hess, who has played goalie for the U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 national teams and plays club soccer for Southern California Blues, was actually in her first year starting full-time for CdM this season. She split time in goal with then-senior Kendall Mulvaney as a freshman, and transferred to JSerra as a sophomore to allow herself more time to compete with the national teams. She transferred back to CdM as a junior but was not eligible to play soccer.
But she made her senior year count. With 99 saves, Hess produced 12 shutouts, helping CdM (11-8-7) finish second in the Pacific Coast League and advance to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Hess had a standout game with 10 saves in a 1-0 second-round upset at No. 4-seeded Westlake.
She earned first-team all-league and first-team All-CIF honors.
Hess also stood out in her second varsity season in basketball. In her first year as a starter, she helped CdM finish second in league and advance to the CIF semifinals for the third straight season.
Harvard women’s soccer went 8-7-2 in 2015, including a 5-1-1 mark in the Ivy League that was good for second place. Chris Hamblin, who had been an assistant coach at Harvard for the past five years, was recently promoted to head coach.
Twitter: @mjszabo
