SCHOLAR ATHLETE: Laura Kurash ’13

Laura Kurash ’13, team quad-captain for the 2011 Wesleyan women’s soccer season, was named first-team all-New England Division III by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). She received NESCAC honors in women’s soccer for the third straight year and was named first-team all-NESCAC for a second year in a row after being named Rookie of the Year in 2009. She has scored 28 goals, 12 of which have been game- winners, and dished out 10 assists for 66 career points. She is a first-team District II CoSIDA/Capital One Division III Academic All-American.

A chemistry and Spanish double-major, she says her favorite class was organic chemistry, which she took last spring. She is a pre-med, has registered for the MCAT, and is considering a specialty in orthopedics or perhaps gerontology.

“The soccer season is the best part of the year for me,” she says, noting that she chose Wesleyan for the balance between academ- ics and athletics. “To make this work, I have to schedule my life by the hour. There’s not a lot of free time,” she admits. “But it’s worth it. My downtime is practice, and my favorite part of soccer is the team.” UPFRONT