by Tom Worgo
Severna Park High School,
Field Hockey, Lacrosse, and Indoor Track
Severna Park High School junior Eva Klaus’ career ambition jumps off the page. Many successful student athletes want to be doctors, lawyers, or even accountants. Klaus has set her sights on something different: She aspires to be a microbiologist. Klaus will attend Johns Hopkins University, where she will play lacrosse on a scholarship.
“I just love studying science and how things work together,” Klaus says. “I just think it’s so interesting. I read articles all the time about all the things that biologists are discovering.”
If Klaus’ success at field hockey, lacrosse, and indoor track is any guide, she will be a successful microbiologist.
She’s put together a memorable 10-month stretch, which started in Fe uary of last year.
The 5-foot-10 Klaus, who carries a 4.71 grade point average, led the Class 4A state champion Falcons’ field hockey team in scoring last fall and ranked as one of the offensive leaders on the school’s state champion lacrosse team.
On top of that, she’s a championship sprinter.
Severna Park athletic director Dave Lanham said the 16-year-old Klaus is a rare athlete. Her coaches say she could play either lacrosse or field hockey at a Division I college.
“I think she should have been the field hockey Player of the Year,” Lanham explains. “I think she was better than any player I saw and we play some very good competition. She is equally as talented in her other sports. She is as much a complete package as you are going to get. I truly mean that. She is an amazing athlete.”
Still, Klaus considers lacrosse her best sport. She’s been playing it since she was eight. She chose Johns Hopkins over offers from Duke and Georgetown universities to play there.
Klaus, a midfielder, was named an Under Armour All-American following her sophomore year. She scored a whopping 52 goals in 2014 after a freshman campaign that saw her total 23. Klaus performed best in the most important games last spring. She scored at least three goals in the regional final (Broadneck), state semifinal (Walt Whitman), and state championship game (Catonsville).
“I think I am pretty offensive oriented in lacrosse,” Klaus says. “I think the seniors wanted to win the state championship more than anything and I can’t imagine not helping and contributing to that effort.”
Klaus also attracts praise for being dominant in the draw circle. She gave the Falcons a huge advantage in that department.
“She took draws for us and had an unbelievable percentage of draws won,” says Carin Peterson, who retired as Severna Park’s girls lacrosse coach following the 2014 season. “She couldn’t be stopped in the state championship against Catonsville.
“She has a tremendous work ethic,” she adds. “Bar none, she’s one of the best I’ve coached in 25 years at Severna Park. Her desire to get better in phenomenal.”
Klaus improved plenty between her sophomore year and junior year on the varsity field hockey team. She scored 14 goals last fall to earn All-County honors and notched both goals in the Falcons’ 2-1 regional championship victory over heated rival Broadneck.
“No one could beat her to a ball,” Severna Park field hockey coach Ann Andrews says. “When she runs to the ball, it doesn’t look like she is eaking a sweat. She makes it look effortless. She is just so fast.”
That speed was evident during the 2013–2014 indoor track season. She captured a county championship in the 500 meters while finishing second in the region and fifth in the state.
She also ran a leg on the county and regional champion 1,600 relay team.
“Her biggest asset is her determination to win,” Severna Park indoor track coach Elmer McPhail says. “She likes to be the best. That’s why I think she is really successful.”
Klaus says indoor track given her lacrosse career a boost.
“That’s one of the reasons I am so successful in lacrosse,” she explains. “He [McPhail] gives me workouts in the offseason. It’s been a huge thing for me.”
When Klaus isn’t playing sports, she’s busy hitting the books. She takes advanced placement courses in physics, calculus, English, and comparative government. Klaus is also a member of the school’s Biology Club, Latin Club, and Lemon Club, which raises money for cancer research.
“The kid is the whole package when it comes to academics and athletics,” Peterson says. “She is second to none.”
