By Tom Worgo
Sometimes it takes an unusual incident or experience to define a career path. For Key School senior three-sport athlete Megan Filter, who will attend Davidson College in North Carolina on a lacrosse scholarship, it was a severe knee injury. Because of the stellar quality of her subsequent treatment, Filter now plans to be an orthopedic surgeon.
She had her senior project at Union Memorial Orthopedics Sports Medicine in the Baltimore area this spring by shadowing Richard Hinton, an assistant to Ben Horrigan, the orthopedic surgeon who operated on her.
“I think the injury changed my life because I don't think I would have looked into this career without being exposed to it as a patient,” Filter says. “I really enjoyed seeing the different ways that the doctor interacted with me and it wasn't all in technical terms. He kept me calm and positive. I thought it was really cool.”
Filter's career choice also fits in with one of her guiding principles, which is helping people. Her coaches say she is the type of person who will do anything for anyone. “In my life, I have always enjoyed helping people,” Filter says. “I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do in my career. I thought this would be an interesting way to do it and help people.”
She's had the sort of academic success necessary to pursue her lofty goal. Filter carried a 3.74 grade point average and has taken advance placement classes in physics, government, chemistry, calculus, statistics, and English.
She constantly studies and enjoys it. “It's really been a challenge,” Filter says. “I use my free time during the school day to study. I am doing homework and getting ahead if I know I have a busy night or week ahead of me. I really utilize that time. And I really do use a lot of Saturday mornings to catch up for the week ahead.”
Key Athletic Director Brian Boyd says Filter's tremendous work ethic is what sets her apart from other athletes. “She is just never satisfied, which allows her to excel in everything,” Boyd explains. “I taught her in the classroom and she is exactly the same way. She can get an A on a paper and she sees the comments I write on something she can work on. She takes that to heart. She says, ‘With the next paper, I am going to do that.' That drive to always better herself is what makes her special.”
Key's coaches consider her a special student athlete.
Besides lacrosse, Filter played five other varsity sports for the school: field hockey, soccer, indoor track, and basketball. And she didn't just get participation trophies. She helped the Key indoor soccer team to IAAM C Conference championship during her first two years of high school and led the girls basketball team in rebounding this past winter by averaging nine per game.
“She is definitely the kind of kid that can pick up any sport and be good at it,” Boyd said. “I have been at the school for 17 years and she is one of the two or three best (female) athletes we have ever had.”
The 5-foot-8 Filter will stay sharply focused on lacrosse. She signed a National Letter of Intent with Davidson in November and had a lot of interest from both Jacksonville State University, and Dartmouth College.
“There's a lot of things to like about her,” Davidson Coach Kim Wayne says. “Her worth ethic is impeccable and the number one thing that stood out to us. She also has the size and great game sense. She is very strong and uses that strength to her advantage. She has good speed as well.”
Filter's lacrosse career at Key jumps off the page. The midfielder amassed a whopping 155 goals through 2017, including 73 last spring. Filter also led the team in ground balls and draw controls last year.
“She was our go-to player and when she had the ball, you knew something good was going to happen,” says Megan Yates, who served as Key's girls lacrosse coach last season. “Megan was truly the glue to our team offensively and defensively. She really pulled everyone together.”
When Filter competed for her club team, the Maryland United, she usually guarded the opponent's top offensive player. She played defense—the same position she'll see time at in college.
“We needed her on the defensive end because we had a lot of middies on our club team,” Maryland United Coach Linda Brogan says. “She is very strong there and a lot of kids can't play that position very well. She is a calming influence back there.”
