As a field hockey goaltender, Megan Maynes is tasked with using all the tools at her disposal to perform at a high level: pads, stick, vision to play angles and quick reflexes to keep the ball away from her crease and out of her net.
In the classroom, the tools of success differ, but the goal is the same: optimum results. Maynes has maintained a high grade-point average since her freshman year, and her diligence has resulted in its increase over each of the last three years.
Accordingly, Maynes was recently named one of two winners of the top scholar-athlete for the Colonial Conference’s Liberty Division by the South Jersey Coaches Association.
Honored at a banquet earlier this month at Auletto Catering in Deptford alongside fellow student-athletes from across the region, Maynes initially didn’t have a whole lot of time to process the situation.
“My mom forwarded me an email on the morning I left for (the senior trip to) Disney, so I didn’t learn much about it until I returned home. Lefty (athletic director Banos) told me later that week that he and the other athletic directors from our conference voted me as the top female scholar-athlete,” she said.
Maynes, who will graduate in June, is planning on enrolling in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown with an intended major in marketing. She’ll also represent the Hoyas in field hockey.
It’s a family affair as Maynes – the oldest of eight children – will follow in her parents’ footsteps and matriculate in the District of Columbia. Father Chris Maynes was a two-sport star at HMHS (football and baseball), going on to play football at Georgetown in the early 1990s.
“It was a unique experience because I got to sit with the other honorees from my area, and I had the chance to meet and talk to some athletes that I had never spoken to before. I often come face-to-face with them on the field, or I’ll be watching them compete against my school in other sports, and it is not often we get to talk as people and learn about each other since we are usually caught up in playing,” she said.
The path to recognition was a long and winding one, as Maynes was already a well-rounded athlete before picking up her chosen sport rather late.
“I never played field hockey until my freshman year. I swam, played soccer, lacrosse and basketball. From a young age, I fell in love with playing goalie. In every sport I could, I hopped in goal,” she revealed.
“When I was in eighth grade, my middle-school gym teacher, Lindsay Kocher, started asking. Their goalie had torn her ACL and Kocher knew that they had no one to step up. She said, ‘Come try it. We’ll throw some balls at your head and see if you like it.’ I tried field hockey my freshman summer and the rest is history! I’ll always be grateful to her for convincing me to make the best decision of my life.”
Maynes announced back in mid-November that she would continue her educational and athletic pursuits at Georgetown. Not too long before that, on senior day in October during a victory over Sterling High School, she moved out from her usual spot and, in a stunning reversal, scored a goal instead of preventing one.
“For four years, I joked with my coach that one day I wanted to play the field and score a goal. The night before my ‘senior game,’ she told me (after weeks and weeks of begging), that she would let me play the field for a half. My teammates were awesome – they kept trying to pass me the ball. Finally, a perfect pass was sent into the middle and I swung my stick and was able to score!” she explained.
Over her four-year career with the Bulldawgs, Maynes compiled more than 600 saves, including 175 of those last fall as Haddonfield finished with a record of 19-3-2 while winning the Colonial Conference championship and the Central Jersey Group 1 title for the fourth consecutive season.
In the present, academic demands on students during their senior year of high school are markedly different than the previous generation; any thoughts of catching “senioritis” during the final two quarters are quickly countered by rumors of college admissions offices dangling threats of deferred acceptance for an obvious drop-off in grades.
As such, Maynes hasn’t opted to pad her in-classroom stats with easy courses as a senior, carrying three advanced placement classes and one accelerated class as she nears the finish line.
“Currently, I am enrolled in AP Composition, AP Spanish, AP Computer Science, Anatomy and Physiology, and Accelerated Calculus,” she related. “I’d say my favorite classes along the way have definitely been English classes, and my junior-year AP United States history. However, I’ve also enjoyed trying new things outside of my comfort zone, such as AP Computer Science.”
Maynes credits English teachers Corinne Welsh, Kim Dickstein, Holly Maiese, and Jamie Vermaat for inspiring her, and making those classes a joy to attend.
“Each of those teachers taught me to appreciate the works we were reading, and they all held class discussions in a unique way. I believe some of the things I’ve learned from those classes will stay with me for a long time.”
