Wake Forest Athletics
Winants At Forefront of Wake Forest’s Spring Field Hockey Season
3/11/2021 10:00:00 AM | Field Hockey, Les Johns
The junior has recorded nine points in 12 starts this season.
Junior forward Eleanor Winants started the spring field hockey season off with a bang, posting a hat trick by assisting on all three Wake Forest goals in a 3-0 victory over Boston College.
Of course, playing in the spring is a bit unusual for collegiate field hockey, which usually uses this time of the year for training, development and targeted scrimmages.
"Our seasons have definitely looked different," Winants said. "In the fall we only had six (ACC) games and we're having six more in the spring. Usually our spring is a lot of training and lifting — mostly getting ready for the fall season, while also mixing in a couple of scrimmages. But now we're having another set of games, the ACC Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament."
The Demon Deacons grabbed three wins during fall competition, dropping a 2-1 decision to No. 4 Virginia in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.
"We were the only conference playing in the fall," Winants said. "So all the other conferences got to see us play and see how that played out. Our team was super-lucky. We didn't have any cases the entire season. We were really focused and diligent about staying safe and healthy.
"I'm just really excited we get to play another six-game season, and we're hoping by next fall it'll be back to normal with a standard 20-game schedule range. It's all crazy and we're just taking it day-by-day. We've been training really hard."
Jen Averill is in her 29th year of coaching Wake Forest Field Hockey, which she's turned into one of the best programs in the country. North Carolina won the ACC Tournament in the fall, and will face the top conference team in the spring slate to determine the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, which will take place in May.
"We just want to win and have fun," Winants said. "When we're winning, we are having fun. I'm just thankful we're able to be on the field playing in the first place. I'm a junior, and it's gone by so fast. I'm just trying to soak in every moment of it. I'm lucky that we have played during COVID."
"I could have had my entire junior season canceled. So we're just trying to have fun, stay together and bring home some wins."
Athletics were a part of Winants' life early, first with soccer, and then progressing on to basketball, lacrosse and track. She started playing field hockey in third grade, joining a rec league in which her older sister participated. Growing up in Virginia, her family found hot spots for field hockey in Pennsylvania, so her mother, Shelley, would drive her for training and games every weekend.
"I was wanting to get recruited, and in Pennsylvania, that's what they train you to do," Winants explained.
One of the club teams Winants played for frequently offered clinics, and that's where she came across Wake Forest and Averill.
"It was a small clinic, so I was able to have a lot of one-on-one time with the coaches, and grew a bond with Jen Averill right off the bat," Winants said. "I liked that clinic. Then I went to their summer camp every summer. Sophomore year went to summer camp twice, because there were two different sessions.
"I ended up committing on the spot during the second camp. Once I got on campus and talked to Jen more, I just knew it was the right fit for me. I like the small-knit community. I didn't want to go to a big school, but I wanted Division I and to be in the ACC, to play in the most competitive league for field hockey. It just felt right, and I've never regretted the decision."
In the middle of her third season with the Deacs, Winants has played in 50 games — starting 27. With the extra year of eligibility afforded student-athletes because of the COVID-19 interruptions, Winants is exploring all her options and could very well be with the Demon Deacons two more seasons.
"I'm exploring my options and I've been thinking hard about it," she said. "I'd rather ponder that earlier rather than later. There is a possibility I could stay for a fifth year. But depending on my career track and what I want to do, I could go back for more school and get my Master's. But I might wait until I have a job for a couple of years. It's nice to have options and that possibility."
