Student-Athlete Spotlight: Clare Martin 

Image Courtesy of Clare Martin

By Sam Bergstrom 

Last Thursday, I had the chance to speak with Clare Martin about her student-athlete experience at Catholic University. Clare is a senior Accounting major from Louisville, Kentucky, and a starting defender for the women’s lacrosse team.

When searching for colleges, Clare dreamed of fresh city scenery that would take her far from home. Considering her older sister attends Georgetown, she already had a cozy connection with D.C. before attending Catholic. Pair this with the Kentucky ties she has with her lacrosse coach—who received her Ph.D. in sports administration from the University of Louisville—and Catholic was the perfect place to be. Outside of a treasured lacrosse tenure, Clare believes she found a home that gives her a gorgeous campus vibe, amazing academics, and the opportunity to explore enriching endeavors.

Until arriving at CUA, Clare never felt like lacrosse was truly ingrained in her DNA. Similar to her teammate, Henley Bredemann, Clare comes from a state where lacrosse is not a proud pastime. In fact, she shared that many natives of Kentucky are oblivious that lacrosse even exists! 

“We have one club team, and then my high school, and then one other high school was decent, but still like not the level of lacrosse that the Northeast has. It definitely was a big adjustment coming here and like playing with girls who are all from Maryland and Pennsylvania and Long Island and stuff like that, because the level of lacrosse is so different.” 

Amidst the slight culture shock, Clare’s freshman year served as an integral aspect of her evolution as a player. Through limited playing time, she increased her lacrosse IQ, strengthened her fundamentals, and was surrounded by a serious lacrosse scene. More than anything, Clare gained the inspiration to blossom into her full potential. 

“After going through that season, I was like, ‘I don’t wanna just sit on the bench the rest of my 3 years.’ Obviously, I don’t think anyone does. So, after that year, that summer I really committed to just training really hard, playing lacrosse every day, working out every day, lifting,” she reflected. “I came back my sophomore year, and I think I just had an insane jump, and my coach really noticed that improvement from the summer.” 

It may sound cliché, but Clare’s hard work truly paid dividends. After just 6 games of action her freshman season, her on-field production took a joyful jump these past three years. As a full-time starter, she has become a critical part of Catholic’s demoralizing defense. For her collegiate career, Clare has clamped down on the attack, picked up 60 ground balls, and caused 55 turnovers. Along with the personal dedication she developed, Clare credits her teammates’ support for getting her to this point. 

“I think every person who I’ve had and every senior I’ve had and experienced on this team has really committed a lot of time to like including all the younger girls and really making them feel welcomed,” she emphasized. “I think that is why I am the player I am today. And it also has inspired me as a senior to really continue that legacy and continue to help like the younger girls and really include them in all of like that type of stuff.”

Image Courtesy of Clare Martin

More than prospering as a player, Clare spends time off the field engaged with organizations that help students flourish as humans. She is involved with Morgan’s Message, a nonprofit that prioritizes student-athlete mental health. Moreover, she participates in the One Love Foundation, which teaches people how to maintain healthy relationships. Additionally, Clare has recently found relief from golfing on Saturdays with her teammates. She finds golf to be mindful and meditative, especially when lacrosse overloads her mental or physical state. 

When I inquired about her career aspirations, Clare confessed to her jumbled academic journey. “I started out undecided, and then I kind of went the like pre-law route and switched to philosophy, actually. And then went back to business, and was going to do finance, and I was also looking at like sports marketing. And then I was gonna minor in math or philosophy. So I was kind of like all over the place.” 

The summer after her sophomore year, Clare worked at Brown-Forman as a Global Brand Strategy and Finance Capabilities intern. After conversing with colleagues who had experience in the arena of audit, Clare found comfort in pursuing accounting, beginning her junior year. Fast forward to today, and the senior has accepted a full-time auditing role at Ernst & Young, one of the world’s Big Four accounting firms. Ultimately, Clare applauds CUA for helping to navigate her messy maze of majors. 

“The fact that I could switch my major 5 times and bounce around and still graduate on track and with 150 credits to take my CPA is pretty great. Just because it shows how flexible they are in that you don’t really have to know what you want to do, and you can come here and kind of explore all your options and then really be able to decide after you have 2 years of college under your belt, which is just, it’s been great.” 

Clare’s favorite class at CUA has been Accounting 419: Taxation I, taught by Professor Greg Monahan. Clare specifically praised Professor Monohan’s interactive teaching style and his encouragement for students to ask questions. Moreover, she admired how he turned the dry topic of tax into an exciting subject to learn about. 

Over her past four years at Catholic, Clare’s most memorable moment came during her sophomore year when the Cardinals defeated the nationally ranked Colorado College Tigers in a 10-9 upset. She admitted the team did not have many expectations coming in, but ended up playing exceptionally well as a complete unit. When the Cards scored the game-winning goal with 22 seconds left, Clare felt it was “the last time that we had like a really, really good feel-good win.” 

Finally, I asked Clare to give one piece of advice to her freshman self. She unpacked, “Definitely that it’s all gonna work out. And that, like, you can get through, like, the hard parts and stuff. Because my freshman year was definitely really hard, with only playing in 6 games, and like never really feeling like I got an opportunity to prove myself. But now I look back as a senior, and I look back to my freshman self, and, like, know I needed to have that type of season to really become the player I am today, and become honestly the person I am today.” 

As a Cardinal, Clare has brought Kentucky toughness, resounding resilience, and awesome amiability. Above all, we would like to thank her for the dedication she has poured into Catholic University on the turf, in the classroom, and around campus. We wish Clare nothing but the best with her post graduation adventures.