Lindsay Levin ’07 has no shortage of fans, especially at home. Her father Joel has attended every game in Lindsay’s senior season, and her mother Shelly, a fourth grade teacher, attends as many as her work allows. Her younger brother Zach, a sophomore at Cornell, showed that family ties are stronger then school ties when the Bulldogs traveled to Ithaca. At the game, he rooted for his beloved Big Red, but still reserved the loudest cheers for his big sister.
“Her mother Shelly and myself are just very proud of everything she’s accomplished at Yale,” Joel Levin said.
[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”13804″ ]
As proof of this, he hands out his daughter’s captain’s cards along with his business cards.
Of course, when it comes to Lindsay, the Long Island family has no shortage of things to be proud of. Along with excelling academically, Lindsay, the current captain of the women’s lacrosse team, has played in every game of her Yale career. She was already starting half of her games in her freshman year, and continued to be an even more solid presence in the midfield as her career continued.
But beyond her play at Johnson Field, teammate Meredith Callahan ’08 said that Lindsay organizes her priorities well.
“She’s always been really academically focused, which is tough to do when the majority of your time is dedicated to your sport,” she said. “She’s really good about remembering that it’s just a sport, something that we do, not something that defines us.”
More importantly, though, Lindsay’s heart is in the game and with her team. She stepped into her role as captain with the desire to help change the team during her senior year, coming off what she called a “little bit of a rebuilding year” in 2006. In her position, she has made it a personal mission to keep morale high on her team and to unite the girls across all classes. Number 17 also made sure to push the team in their efforts to become a force to be reckoned with on the field.
So far, she has been successful on all counts. After coming off a nine-game winning streak this season, the Bulldogs are now eagerly awaiting the news of a bid for the NCAA tournament. And, team members said, the girls are a decidedly more cohesive unit than they have been in recent years.
Head coach Mandee O’Leary said that Lindsay is a “critical individual” on the field and off the field.
“I think that Lindsay has been one of the best captains that I’ve had in my 14 years at Yale. She’s set a precedent for those to follow,” she said. “Her leadership skills go beyond the athletic field. She has brought the team together, and she has done amazing things with our team.”
Her parents have certainly noticed their daughter’s dedication to her new role.
“She’s shown a lot of leadership this year,” Joel Levin said. “She’s given a lot of energy to push the team to be successful.”
The Trumbull senior, though proud of her team’s progress, said she shares the credit for the turnaround with her senior classmates.
“[Being captain] just makes me more responsible — being accountable to my teammates and wanting to do my best because they are relying on me on and off the field,” she said. “Especially in terms of this year, realizing the potential of something and being able to see it through.”
The dedicated leader still knows how to keep situations light with her quirky personality and her sense of humor. Levin enjoys playing jokes on her coaches, and at every away game dinner she is sure to request a song and a cake for O’Leary’s “birthday.” She is also known for digging old clothes out of the equipment room throw-away bags and wearing them to practice. Some styles date back to the early eighties, but she is most famous for her American flag spandex. O’Leary said she is convinced that Lindsay actually enjoys wearing the unique finds and that they “certainly make for an amusing practice.”
Not surprisingly, Lindsay’s light-hearted nature comes from the home she grew up in.
“In our family, even when something is serious, we make jokes,” Mr. Levin said. “We try to keep it in perspective and keep a good sense of humor about things.”
Lindsay clearly keeps herself on the successful side of a well-rounded life. As the Levin siblings say, “On a scale of one to ten, [she’s] a Levin.”