How Middlebury’s Hope Shue became the most decorated player in DIII women's lacrosse

Hope Shue spent four years climbing — the lacrosse rankings and record books, the rigorous challenges of a neuroscience degree and, once every fall, Chipman Hill.

The milelong uphill sprint is a fall tradition for the Middlebury women's lacrosse team, passed down year after year as a rite of passage and reminder. It's not about who reaches the top first. It's about pushing forward when it hurts, together.

"You truly can't explain the pain of running up that hill," Shue said. "But when you get to the top, it feels like such a wave of emotion and gratitude for what Middlebury women's lacrosse is."

Shue's last climb up Chipman Hill preceded her final ascent to historic status in women's lacrosse. She finished her career at Middlebury with four national championships, three Elite 90 awards, two Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association National Player of the Year honors and back-to-back years being named a finalist for the Honda Division III Athlete of the Year. She joined NFL quarterback and North Dakota State alum Carson Wentz as the only NCAA student-athlete across all sports to win at least four national championships and three Elite 90 awards — given to the student-athlete with the top GPA at each of the NCAA's final championship sites.

"Hope has been the most decorated and recognized Division III women's lacrosse player in her four years of competition," said head coach Kate Livesay, a Middlebury alum. "The consistency of her play and impact can only be attributed to an enormous amount of hard work and investment in her sport. Shue has truly set a new standard of excellence for the Middlebury women's lacrosse program."

Shue never expected to be here, among the most decorated lacrosse players in college history. She credits the culture of Middlebury lacrosse, a powerful force.

"I think that it's really the culture of the Middlebury lacrosse program — very, very hungry," she said. "That comes from our coach, Kate Livesay. Just never satisfied, always pushing ourselves, not because of external pressure, but because we really want to be the best that we can be on and off the field."

Shue noted the program's constant focus on reflection to fine-tune and improve. She thrived in the system, which was rooted in process over results.

"It was just constant work every day for four years that we just kept pushing ourselves to be better and want more," she said. "And I think if you don't do that, you can't keep coming out on top at the end of these seasons because obviously every team is gunning for you. And it could feel like kind of this endless trudge of, 'We don't want to lose,' but I think we really were able to flip that narrative and really focus on ourselves and just getting better."

This approach is underscored by how the team handled its 67-game winning streak, which ended in the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament semifinals this spring.

"We literally never mentioned that or talked about it," Shue said. "I honestly didn't feel anything associated to it."

The team, like it did the last time it lost in 2022, responded by winning the Division III championship against rival Tufts. Shue, a freshman on the 2022 team, said both losses — the only two she experienced in college — were defining moments.

"Those moments were very humbling and important for our team both seasons," she said. "I don't think we would have won either of those national championships against Tufts had we not fallen in the NESCAC."

As much as Shue attributes her success to the program's culture, Livesay has credited the All-American for elevating an already storied program, which now holds 11 NCAA titles.

"She convinces herself that we are not as good as the teams we are playing," Livesay said in a USA Lacrosse feature story on Shue. "It's super helpful from a leadership perspective because that is the ultimate fear as a program that's had consistent success. Players start to expect it and think it'll just happen. That's why a player like Hope is so valuable."

Shue, who broke school records in goals (306) and points (391), carried the same mentality to the classroom, where she majored in neuroscience. Along the way to graduating with a 4.0 GPA, she claimed her three Elite 90 awards and multiple College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors. Again, she credits the program for the high standard she reached, noting that the three team captains her freshman season are all now in medical school.

"It's definitely a huge honor, but one that I totally share with all of my teammates who are all just as deserving of that," she said of her academic accolades. "Academics definitely meant a lot to me. I think the Division III experience is so unique because I've been able to really prioritize academics. Our coach and program emphasize being a student first and an athlete second. Thinking back on my last four years, lacrosse might stand out, but most of my time was spent in the library doing schoolwork."

Shue said she often hears high school athletes wondering where they belong. For her, Division III — and Middlebury, a small college in Vermont, specifically — was the right fit.

"There are so many young women across Division III who are incredible athletes that would also excel in Division I or Division II," she said. "So I think first of all, it's important to not look at it as, 'Oh, I'm here because I'm not as good.' It's just such a different experience."

That experience included a semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, while she was recovering from an injury. She didn't train at all. She called it a "sedentary semester" — and one of the most meaningful of her college years.

"I think my Middlebury experience really was the epitome of what college athletics should look like and feel like," Shue said.

The team doesn't practice with coaches until February, which means the fall is entirely led by captains.

"All of the bonding that comes with the captains practices that we plan all fall long and then being really excited for those coaches practices to begin, that's been so incredible," she said.

That autonomy and balance are part of what made the experience special. Shue said she was recruited into a class of 11, and 14 graduated.

"We picked people up along the way," she said. "That really speaks to not only the Middlebury women's lacrosse culture and experience, but just Division III as a total — where you really have this school-work-lacrosse balance, and it actually leaves you wanting more. You finish a season and know you're not going to play again seriously for six or seven months, and then you're hungry to begin again. I think that's how sports are really supposed to feel."

With sports in the rearview, she plans to work at biotech financial advising firm in Boston but says she's not ruling out more school in the future. "I think my time studying probably isn't over," she said.

Her time playing is. And she says she's OK with that.

"I actually felt very at peace in a way that I didn't expect," she said of hearing the final whistle. "I just had this real wave of gratitude."

She'll still think about the games. The pressure. The self-doubt. The challenges of everyday life as a college student. She'll also think about the practices, the alumni texts and the team huddles before games where they lay in a circle and visualized how they wanted to play.

She'll remember Chipman Hill.

"It really is a battle," she said. "Every moment, you just have to keep putting another foot forward and driving yourself up that hill. Doing it alongside your teammates, all of it is so symbolic, and that's why we do it every year and why it means so much to our program.

"But I'm excited to walk up it for the rest of my life, though," she added, with a laugh. "The tangible hills are over. I'm ready for the metaphorical hills of life."