Loch Raven girls lacrosse coach Tracy Mabe was fired up when she found out that two-sport senior standout Kara Kleinhammer would be joining the Raiders for the 2011 season.
"I heard she was an amazing athlete," Mabe said.
The problem was that Kleinhammer hadn't played high school lacrosse before and had last suited up years earlier at Ridgely Middle School.
"I was worried," the coach said. "We always have a solid team. So for her to start playing as a senior, I was taken aback."
How big a role Kleinhammer, a low defender, played might have even surprised Mabe and the new player's teammates when the soccer-basketball standout ended up starting every game and anchoring the defense on a squad team that went 11-6.
"I think she was the core of our defense," Mabe said. "She was phenomenal. She had a ton of interceptions and a lot of groundball pick-ups. I think what she did is pretty rare. It may happen again, but I don't foresee it for a long time."
The 2011 Northeast Booster Reporter Athlete of the Year also made a significant impact in the fall and the winter for the Raiders.
The 5-foot-4 Kleinhammer earned Maryland Association of Coaches of Soccer first-team All-State honors as a forward while scoring five game-winning goals. She also led a solid basketball team in rebounding as a point guard.
"You have kids who are athletic enough to really pick any sport, and that was Kara," Mabe said of Kleinhammer, who also swam for 12 summers for the Hampton Hammerheads. "Kara could take a day or two and pick up any sport."
In the fall, Kleinhammer, who carried a 3.4 grade point average, will attend Towson University and try to join the soccer team as a walk-on.
At Loch Raven, she started for three years and was an All-County first-team selection as a junior and a senior.
Kleinhammer, 17, was the only captain of the soccer team. It was the first time in Anthony Menegatti's 17 years as a Loch Raven girls assistant and head coach that a player had gone solo in the role.
"I just think I was a leader to everybody, and everyone else could see it on the field," said Kleinhammer, who played 10 years for the Baltimore Soccer Club Blaze before joining the Loch Raven varsity. "I would get our players pumped up before the game. I controlled the tempo of the game with my attitude, and had everybody else feed off of my energy."
Menegatti added: "She was really a vocal captain."
The four-year varsity player and three-year starter was just as valuable to 12-6 Loch Raven for her ability to record clutch goals.
She led the Raiders, who lost in a state semifinal to Oakdale, of Frederick County, in scoring (11 goals, 10 assists after a stellar 2009 season (17, 12) in which Loch Raven emerged with a Class 1A state title.
Her best 2010 performances came in 3-2 regular season wins over Towson (2 goals, 1 assist) and Franklin (1, 2).
"She had a nose for the goal," Menegatti said. "If I needed a big goal, Kara was there. But I love Kara's overall game. She had speed, was a hard worker and strong in the air. She would win so many balls in the box. And she got back on defense when we needed her."
On the basketball court, Kleinhammer finished second on the 13-8 Raiders in scoring (averaging 12 points) while contributing seven rebounds per game.
"She is the kind of kid you wished you had seven of on your team," Loch Raven assistant girls basketball coach Katie Cox said. "She is very scrappy, fiery and intense. You didn't want her playing defense against you. She got a lot of steals. And her offensive game developed during the year."
Kleinhammer said she thrived under first-year coach Allyson Sieka.
"She was my role model," Kleinhammer said. "We worked our butts off the entire season. Every night, I went home and had to pass out because I couldn't keep up with her drills. We had a winning record, and that was the first time in years."
Kleinhammer decided to play lacrosse as a senior because of her passion for sports.
"When I don't play sports for a week, I feel like I go crazy," she said. "It's the biggest part of my life."
Mabe's only regret is that Kleinhammer didn't come out for lacrosse sooner in high school.
"I would have loved to coach her for four years," she said.