This spring, Rye Country Day graduate Laura Baine was named to the D3 All-American first team for her play at attack on the Wesleyan University lacrosse team. Her 51 goals and 31 assists were the second highest yearly total in school history, and she finished her career with 200 points, also second all-time for Wesleyan, despite playing a shortened freshman season due to Covid.
Laura, who moved with her family to Rye at age three, grew up playing “all the team sports there are,” she said. “Both my Mom and Dad are athletes, as are my two older brothers. I played soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, and squash in addition to lacrosse, though I began narrowing it down in high school when lacrosse recruiting started to intrude on the other seasons.”
She explained, “I first started playing lacrosse on a club team while I was still a student at Osborn School. Later, I discovered you really have to go to training camps and showcases for college coaches in the off-season during high school. So that made it hard to play multiple sports.”
Despite many college offers — including several that offered full rides — Laura settled on Wesleyan for its combination of athletics and academics. “All the NESCAC schools, the New England Small College Athletic Conference places, really get that balance right. I was good at math, and took a couple of AP Computer Science courses at Rye Country Day, so I wanted to major in that with a minor in Finance, which is something my whole family are into.”
She went on to say, “I’m glad I did, because I’ve started a job at IBM in their Watson Intelligence Group, delivering AI solutions to customers.”
Asked to describe her greatest strength on the lacrosse field, strengths that made her Wesleyan’s Female Athlete of the Year in all sports and MVP of the national Division 3 lacrosse all-star game for seniors, she said, “I guess it’s my vision. Although I played midfield for Coach Summers at Rye Country Day, I played attack on my club team and in college. My position was behind the net, and I looked to see teammates who were cutting to the cage. I could feed them the ball and, possibly, get it back to take a shot.”
So, is there anything about Laura Baine even her best friends don’t know? She thought or a moment. “I can’t say no to a good piece of chocolate. Never could.”