Thiel junior Hayden Wightman wasn’t sure she was even going to attend college. If Wightman did go, she wasn’t sure she wanted to follow the family tradition of playing lacrosse. While Wightman was in high school at Shaler Area, she didn’t play any varsity sports.
But once her dad took the job as the Tomcats’ coach, and her two sisters, Maddy and Ashlyn, played at Thiel, Hayden got the desire to give the sport one more try.
“I wanted to get back into it,” Hayden said. “It was a safe feeling knowing I was going to be in a different atmosphere.”
Hayden has teamed with record-setting sister Ashlyn to help the Tomcats open the season with a 3-0 record. Ashlyn set several records during the Tomcats’ 20-9 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on March 8 on the road.
Ashlyn scored 14 goals in the win and added to her school record by reaching 300 goals. Ashlyn, who is in her fifth season, has 27 goals thus far this season. She scored 96 last season and 106 two seasons ago.
During the early part of her lacrosse career, Ashlyn was primarily involved in the midfield.
“When I came to Thiel, I stepped into a full-field position,” Ashlyn said. “I always did play well when I played multiple positions; I didn’t want to be stuck in one spot. I did better when I had multiple jobs on my shoulders. I always felt I could do more.”
Bill Wightman drives from Shaler to Greenville to coach the women’s team. While the drive can be monotonous, it provides Bill with extra time with his daughters.
He still wants his daughters to have their freedom.
“It’s an hour, 15-minute ride that provides a lot of reflection,” Bill said. “The fact that I get to coach my daughters and spend so much time with them is great. I give them their space, but they still migrate to me a lot.”
Bill played lacrosse, but needed to lean on his wife to master the women’s game.
“Having my wife, who is a coach also, made it easy,” Bill said. “When I first started my daughters’ play, I was asking why they blow the whistles so much. Being around my wife, I was able to better understand the roles they needed to play.”
Hayden Wightman had to relearn a lot of things when she started playing in college. Not only had she not played any sports competitively, she hadn’t done much running at all.
“Honestly, there was a ton,” said Hayden, who has four goals and two assists this season. “I needed to get back into the shape of running. The jump from middle school to college lacrosse rules was big. There were minor little details I needed to learn.”
Ashlyn is hoping that the Tomcats will find a way to be competitive in the race for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title. She is proud of what she has accomplished so far.
“I never thought I was going to achieve what I have or score what I have,” Ashlyn said. “It is my family support and the support of my friends and teammates is why I am able to keep going and do so well. I’ve never scored as much as I have the past few seasons. I’m hungry for more.”