Athlete Profile: Meg Bruner '23

I’ve been playing lacrosse for 2 years and I’m a goalie and midfielder.

What inspired me to play was the fact I had been doing track for years and wanted to be on a team sport. Lacrosse was a new program at our school so I tried it out and fell in love with it. 

The best part about playing with this team is that it is a new program. I love being able to see not only myself develop, but the girls and the program develop as well. I look forward to seeing how the program grows throughout the upcoming years. 

What has been the most exciting game so far for you? 

The most exciting game we’ve had was our game against Gainesville. This was our first win of the season. I was proud of the girls for coming together and keeping a strong positive mindset all throughout the game, regardless of what the score was. 

What led you to come play lacrosse at Rabun Gap? 

My choice for playing at Rabun Gap was the same reason I started to play lacrosse in general. I wanted to try something new and help develop the new program. 

The hardest part about being a student-athlete is making sure my school stresses do not affect my athletic performance and the same goes the other way. When I’m in the classroom, my focus has to be academics only and not allow lacrosse stress to affect my academics. It is the same on the field. I cannot bring any school stresses onto the field or it could affect my attitude, mindset, and performance. What has helped me move past these challenges is my coaches and having them let me know how I can improve myself and what it takes to challenge myself and how I can work past the challenges to make myself stronger. 

What makes playing at Rabun Gap special is the coaches and the amount of support I get as an athlete on and off the field. Whether that’s in the weight room, with the trainers, or even just being able to sit down and talk with my coach. 

My favorite thing about my coaches is the level of accountability they hold us to. I think the only way for us to get better as a team is if the coach pushes us beyond our limits and is constantly pointing out things to make us better as individuals and how we function as a team overall. 

In my free time I like to stay very active. I like to ride dirt bikes, lift, cycle, dance, and sing. I love to be outside and even on the weekends. I don’t like to be doing nothing, I'm always busy. 

What's your favorite class and why? 

My favorite class is weight lifting because building my strength in the gym has helped me significantly with my performance on the field. I’ve always loved lifting but was very shy to be in a gym by myself without any coaching. Now that I take the class, I’ve learned how to have good form while lifting and how to work specific muscles that I use as a lacrosse player on the field. I'm now confident to do it on my own and encourage other girls who are shy to lift alone, to come and lift with me. 

My plans after high school are to find a college near here that I can commit and play lacrosse to. I want to be able to come to Rabun Gap one day and be a coach. I will always be around campus trying to help in any way possible with lacrosse camps and the women’s athletic program even after I graduate.