Kate Henesey eager to take Lansdale Catholic girls' soccer to league title

Kate Henesey always finished first.

Starting in mid-June and continuing until the first day of tryouts on Aug. 14, Lansdale Catholic had voluntary workouts that included 100-yard sprints. Longtime girls' soccer coach Tom O'Donnell said he has never seen another forward with Henesey's "textbook" running form.

Her speed helped her score her 100th career goal on Oct. 2 against Bonner-Prendergast. Henesey beat the goalkeeper to a bouncing ball midway between the two and tapped a shot low into the corner, O'Donnell said.

The senior striker added another milestone with a hat trick on Oct. 12 against Hallahan. Henesey already set a Lansdale Catholic single-season record with 39 goals, besting her 38 from last year.

"There's no such thing as they've got her walled in or cut off from the rest of the team," O'Donnell said. "She [eludes] kids, putting the ball between a defender's legs and runs around them. That's standard."

Henesey's father, Brian, who played three games for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals in 1994, led Lansdale Catholic's summer workouts. He left a career in pharmaceuticals to found OverAchieve Sports and Speed, a King of Prussia training facility, in 2010 when Kate was 10.

Brian Henesey said an athlete's ability to control his or her body weight translates to speed, and pull-ups are a good test. He wants girls to be able to do six to eight pull-ups.

Kate Henesey can do six with a 20-pound chain around her neck. Her strength helps in a Philadelphia Catholic League where "it's almost hand-to-hand combat," Brian Henesey said.

"I think it just provides me with certain advantages. You know, like strength, speed, going into tackles throughout a game," Kate Henesey said.

Next season, Kate Henesey will play at Bucknell University and study toward going to medical school. Her father played football there from 1988-91 and graduated as the program's leading rusher. Her mother, Caroline, played basketball there before earning a Ph.D in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of the Sciences in 1996.

Before she goes to Bucknell, Henesey has a chance to help make another mark in Lansdale Catholic's record books. The Crusaders (15-3-1, 10-0-1) have never won a Catholic League title.

Lansdale Catholic beat Archbishop Carroll, 4-0, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. It is set to play Conwell-Egan in the semifinals on Tuesday. The final is set for Saturday.

"I'm extremely excited," Henesey said. "It's our last run through of it all, and we're hoping to get an outcome that we've never had at LC, a PCL championship, so that's a goal for the year."