Sarah, Katie and Julia Reinprecht love to compete against each other. But it’s the nature of their competition that sets them apart from other sets of siblings and has made them an asset to the Princeton field hockey program.
“They go really hard at each other, but it doesn’t come from a place of ‘I want to beat you,’ ” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “It comes from a place of ‘I want to help make you better.’ That’s what amazes me.”
When Sarah Reinprecht ’09 arrived at Princeton just more than five years ago to be a midfielder on the field hockey team, she didn’t know that she would be starting one of the most impressive family legacies in the school’s long athletic history.
“I didn’t know for a long time whether [Katie] was going to go to Princeton,” Sarah Reinprecht said. “I didn’t know for a while whether she was going to play soccer or field hockey [in college], but field hockey won out.”
When current sophomore Katie, also a midfielder, arrived on campus as a freshman for the 2008 season, the two older Reinprecht sisters played together for a year to lead Princeton to its best record since 2001, the year when the team reached the NCAA Final Four. Following the departure of Sarah and eight other seniors after last season, the Tigers reloaded for 2009 in part by adding the youngest Reinprecht to the mix.
“I think I always wanted to play with Katie, and I knew I’d be eligible to play three years with her, so that was definitely a deciding factor,” freshman midfielder Julia Reinprecht said. “Being able to play with her definitely made Princeton more appealing to me. We decided when we were in high school that we wanted to play together in college, so it was kind of a given.”
This year, Katie, a co-captain, and Julia have teamed up to help bring Princeton to even greater heights. The Tigers are currently 10-2 and are ranked among the top five teams in the country. Last Wednesday, the team narrowly missed pulling off a huge win over Maryland — the No. 1 team in the country — falling 3-2 on the road in overtime.
Though the loss at Maryland was certainly a disappointment, it helped show how fast the Tigers have recovered from the departure of last year’s stellar senior class. This recovery has been spurred, in no small part, by Katie and Julia Reinprecht.
“Katie and Julia have the pace and the ball skills. You can literally play them at any position on the field, and they would be the best player at that position in the country,” Holmes-Winn said. “I think what makes them even more special is they are so humble. They are the hardest workers on our team, and I think that is what underpins their success: the discipline and the concentration with which they approach every task related to their performance.”
The Reinprecht sisters’ accolades read like a what’s what of field hockey accomplishments. Sarah was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2005, Katie was Ivy League Player of the Year as a freshman in 2008, and both Katie and Julia are members of the U-21 national team and Junior World Cup team. Katie and Julia also led their high school — Mount St. Joseph’s Academy — to the state finals in field hockey-crazy Pennsylvania.
The strong family relationship that has marked the Reinprechts’ success in any field hockey venue they have entered was not necessarily a given when the siblings were growing up.
“When we were younger, we used to fight like cats and dogs. My sisters and I used to beat each other up all the time,” Sarah said. “It’s so funny to see how close we are now and how well we get along. I guess the transformation in our relationship has been the most amazing thing for me. Both my sisters are my best friends now.”
Since the Reinprechts have played together for such a long time, they have developed what at times can seem like a sixth sense for knowing where the other will be on the field.
“I sort of know where Julia’s going, and I can time when I have the ball,” Katie said. “She knows what I’m thinking. That makes it easier for her to get in a good passing lane for me. I also know that I can expect a good work ethic from her.”
As integral members of an underclassman-heavy team, Katie and Julia have set their sights on helping Princeton reach the pinnacle of college field hockey.
“We definitely have our eyes set on the Ivy League title and obviously want to contend for a national championship,” Julia said. “That’s our goal for Princeton field hockey.”
After almost five seasons of field hockey with the Reinprechts in the books and three more years on the way, Princeton has become a difficult team to bet against.
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