Hall of Fame Profiles: Claire Laubach
2/12/2019 2:34:00 PM | Field Hockey, General
Hoisting an NCAA Championship trophy during one's time as a student athlete is rare. It's what athletes dream of accomplishing after years of pouring blood, sweat and tears into a craft. Winning three national championships is nearly unheard of. Add the Pan-American Games and the Olympics and an athlete's measure of success is nearly off the charts. Claire Laubach accomplished all of this, plus much more. However, her success on the field was not without obstacles.
Laubach will join six other Wake Forest legends in the 45th induction class of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame. The group will be honored during a dinner on Friday, February 15 at Bridger Field House and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies of Wake Forest's men's basketball game with North Carolina on February 16.
Laubach didn't pick up a field hockey stick until she was 16, but behind great teammates and coaching from Wake Forest legend Jen Averill, Laubach's athletic accomplishments piled up quickly. After years of playing soccer, her future with the sport seemed shallow. But her athleticism and raw talent on the field could not be wasted, so she made the transition into field hockey and Averill took notice.
"Coming out of high school I wasn't highly recruited. I had been playing in the USA system, and they had a camp, but me and a few of my friends didn't want to go to it, so my mom suggested going to the Wake Forest camp. So, we went and that's when I met Jen (Averill) and Jen got to know me. Our relationship just grew from there. That camp was one of the best camps I had ever been to. Jen's whole mantra felt very comfortable and in that moment, it felt like everything belonged."
Laubach was a member of the Wake Forest field hockey team from 2001-04. Not only was she one of the few to win back-to-back-to-back national championships, but she helped write history for Wake Forest athletics. The 2002 hockey team was the first women's sport at Wake Forest to capture a national championship. Field Hockey remains the only sport at Wake Forest to three-peat.
Laubach and her teammates laid the foundation for Wake Forest to become a field hockey powerhouse, competing alongside the best in UConn, Old Dominion, North Carolina and Maryland.
"We always just exuded this sense of confidence. We weren't cocky, we weren't overly assured, we just had the mindset of 'We got this. We are going to walk on the field and win. That's just how it's going to go.' That was the start of it, especially after losing in overtime at the final four during my freshman year. We weren't afraid, but at the same time, we always knew we had work to do, so we were going to do it."
That confidence earned Wake Forest field hockey its first-ever national championship, but that was just the beginning. Laubach knew there was much more work to be done, but she had no doubt Wake Forest had the talent and mindset to get it done. Each year, new leaders emerged and the program reached new heights.
"That's pretty much the same attitude that we had the next two years as well. I always looked up to the classes above me, and then my class took that on when it was our turn to be the leaders. But the great thing was, even the freshman class coming in that year, just bought right into it. My junior year was the year we were the most dominant. We all just bought into it and it carried into my senior year."
After two national championships, it was clear that Wake Forest was building a field hockey dynasty. As a senior, Laubach wasn't going to let her collegiate career end with anything but a three-peat. But this time, the pressure was higher than ever before.
"My senior year was one of the harder years because we all felt the pressure, we all felt the target on our backs because we were the team to beat. We still had that 'We got this' mentality, but that all started at the top with Jen. I've never had a coach as motivating as she is. Her pregame speeches I will never forget- that feeling of walking out of the locker room, it was like nothing mattered and we were going to win no matter what. It was just a matter of the team coming together and leaving it all on the field."
And that's just what they did. Led by Laubach and the rest of the senior class, Wake Forest field hockey finished the 2004 season with a 20-3 record and lifted its third national championship trophy in as many years after topping Duke 3-0.
It didn't take long for her accomplishments at Wake Forest to translate to an international stage. Months before she walked across the stage for graduation, she knew what her future held. While most college students spend spring break vacationing at the beach, Laubach and a few other teammates drove to Virginia Beach to try out for the US National Team. She got the call.
Even for a three-time national champion, the transition onto a new team had many challenges. After being so team-motivated, Laubach had to learn to look after herself.
"I was on the national team for about eight years. It was a bit of a learning curve. Jen was always so motivating and Wake was always an entire team effort. When I got to the national team it became more individual just because we had to look out for ourselves. We had to be able to compete and do what you needed to do, and you have a bunch of people from different colleges with different experiences trying to do the same thing. You have to standout so you make the teams, but you also have to be able to play as a team at the same time. For me, it was a hard transition- I was super arrogant at that time. It took me about four years to humble myself. Those first four years when we were gearing up to go to Beijing for the Olympics were tough."
In 2008, Team USA made the trip to Beijing, but Laubach didn't make the final roster.
"I got cut from the team before the 2008 Olympics, but I was still on the developmental squad. That's when it hit me and I knew I had to work my butt off to prove to everyone that I was a great player. I earned my way back on the team and into a starting position in time for the London Olympics."
Team USA qualified for the 2012 London Olympics following a first-place finish at the Pan American games in 2011. Laubach trained hard and became a powerhouse on penalty corners featuring an impressive drag-flick.
The US National Team left London without a medal after a 12th place finish. But for Laubach, earning back a starting position on the team was what she set out to do.
Laubach retired from professional field hockey in 2013. Her next adventure- culinary school. To many, field hockey and culinary school seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. But it was as a professional athlete where Laubach discovered her love for food and cooking. She even gets to incorporate her education from Wake as a studio art major.
"I liked to eat. When I was on the national team, you learn how to cook because you want to eat the food that's good for you, but you also want it to taste good. So I taught myself a lot of things during that time, and then I decided to go ahead and try to make it a career. The art background also helps because I get to build a plate and design something. I can be creative when I'm combining flavors and it all just works together."
While she doesn't get to experience much field hockey as a chef in California, Laubach potentially sees a future as a hockey coach if she returns to the East Coast.
A limited number of $60 tickets are available for sale to the general public for the Hall of Fame dinner on Friday, February 15. Contact Amy Fleet at fleetac@wfu.edu to reserve a ticket.
Laubach will join six other Wake Forest legends in the 45th induction class of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame. The group will be honored during a dinner on Friday, February 15 at Bridger Field House and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies of Wake Forest's men's basketball game with North Carolina on February 16.
Laubach didn't pick up a field hockey stick until she was 16, but behind great teammates and coaching from Wake Forest legend Jen Averill, Laubach's athletic accomplishments piled up quickly. After years of playing soccer, her future with the sport seemed shallow. But her athleticism and raw talent on the field could not be wasted, so she made the transition into field hockey and Averill took notice.
"Coming out of high school I wasn't highly recruited. I had been playing in the USA system, and they had a camp, but me and a few of my friends didn't want to go to it, so my mom suggested going to the Wake Forest camp. So, we went and that's when I met Jen (Averill) and Jen got to know me. Our relationship just grew from there. That camp was one of the best camps I had ever been to. Jen's whole mantra felt very comfortable and in that moment, it felt like everything belonged."
Laubach was a member of the Wake Forest field hockey team from 2001-04. Not only was she one of the few to win back-to-back-to-back national championships, but she helped write history for Wake Forest athletics. The 2002 hockey team was the first women's sport at Wake Forest to capture a national championship. Field Hockey remains the only sport at Wake Forest to three-peat.
Laubach and her teammates laid the foundation for Wake Forest to become a field hockey powerhouse, competing alongside the best in UConn, Old Dominion, North Carolina and Maryland.
"We always just exuded this sense of confidence. We weren't cocky, we weren't overly assured, we just had the mindset of 'We got this. We are going to walk on the field and win. That's just how it's going to go.' That was the start of it, especially after losing in overtime at the final four during my freshman year. We weren't afraid, but at the same time, we always knew we had work to do, so we were going to do it."
That confidence earned Wake Forest field hockey its first-ever national championship, but that was just the beginning. Laubach knew there was much more work to be done, but she had no doubt Wake Forest had the talent and mindset to get it done. Each year, new leaders emerged and the program reached new heights.
"That's pretty much the same attitude that we had the next two years as well. I always looked up to the classes above me, and then my class took that on when it was our turn to be the leaders. But the great thing was, even the freshman class coming in that year, just bought right into it. My junior year was the year we were the most dominant. We all just bought into it and it carried into my senior year."
After two national championships, it was clear that Wake Forest was building a field hockey dynasty. As a senior, Laubach wasn't going to let her collegiate career end with anything but a three-peat. But this time, the pressure was higher than ever before.
"My senior year was one of the harder years because we all felt the pressure, we all felt the target on our backs because we were the team to beat. We still had that 'We got this' mentality, but that all started at the top with Jen. I've never had a coach as motivating as she is. Her pregame speeches I will never forget- that feeling of walking out of the locker room, it was like nothing mattered and we were going to win no matter what. It was just a matter of the team coming together and leaving it all on the field."
And that's just what they did. Led by Laubach and the rest of the senior class, Wake Forest field hockey finished the 2004 season with a 20-3 record and lifted its third national championship trophy in as many years after topping Duke 3-0.
It didn't take long for her accomplishments at Wake Forest to translate to an international stage. Months before she walked across the stage for graduation, she knew what her future held. While most college students spend spring break vacationing at the beach, Laubach and a few other teammates drove to Virginia Beach to try out for the US National Team. She got the call.
Even for a three-time national champion, the transition onto a new team had many challenges. After being so team-motivated, Laubach had to learn to look after herself.
"I was on the national team for about eight years. It was a bit of a learning curve. Jen was always so motivating and Wake was always an entire team effort. When I got to the national team it became more individual just because we had to look out for ourselves. We had to be able to compete and do what you needed to do, and you have a bunch of people from different colleges with different experiences trying to do the same thing. You have to standout so you make the teams, but you also have to be able to play as a team at the same time. For me, it was a hard transition- I was super arrogant at that time. It took me about four years to humble myself. Those first four years when we were gearing up to go to Beijing for the Olympics were tough."
In 2008, Team USA made the trip to Beijing, but Laubach didn't make the final roster.
"I got cut from the team before the 2008 Olympics, but I was still on the developmental squad. That's when it hit me and I knew I had to work my butt off to prove to everyone that I was a great player. I earned my way back on the team and into a starting position in time for the London Olympics."
Team USA qualified for the 2012 London Olympics following a first-place finish at the Pan American games in 2011. Laubach trained hard and became a powerhouse on penalty corners featuring an impressive drag-flick.
The US National Team left London without a medal after a 12th place finish. But for Laubach, earning back a starting position on the team was what she set out to do.
Laubach retired from professional field hockey in 2013. Her next adventure- culinary school. To many, field hockey and culinary school seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. But it was as a professional athlete where Laubach discovered her love for food and cooking. She even gets to incorporate her education from Wake as a studio art major.
"I liked to eat. When I was on the national team, you learn how to cook because you want to eat the food that's good for you, but you also want it to taste good. So I taught myself a lot of things during that time, and then I decided to go ahead and try to make it a career. The art background also helps because I get to build a plate and design something. I can be creative when I'm combining flavors and it all just works together."
While she doesn't get to experience much field hockey as a chef in California, Laubach potentially sees a future as a hockey coach if she returns to the East Coast.
A limited number of $60 tickets are available for sale to the general public for the Hall of Fame dinner on Friday, February 15. Contact Amy Fleet at fleetac@wfu.edu to reserve a ticket.
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