Senior Spotlight: Kayla Wormsbecher

2/1/2021 1:01:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: Charlotte Brackett

DartmouthSports.com will be recognizing the senior student-athletes who had their winter seasons postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today's Senior…Kayla Wormsbecher, a goaltender from Mississauga, Ontario.

DartmouthSports.com: What have workouts been like so far?
Kayla Wormsbecher: Workouts now are a mix of great, but also terrible. It's nice to not have the pressure of having to lift heavier or run faster, and everything is on my own terms now. After years of learning how training programs are generated to work, I can make my own type of program that is filled with my favorite exercises and challenges. However, I really miss the team environment in the gym.

DS: What is your most memorable on-ice team moment?
KW: My most memorable team moment is when we beat top-ranked Clarkson in the senior game of 2019. We always played so well against Clarkson, and we really played our hearts out that game. I didn't even play, but it was still so memorable because it meant so much to our team. The game was just phenomenal and so fun to be part of.

DS: What is your most memorable non-sports memory?
KW: This is a hard one. There are so many memories that stick out when I think of it, ranging from simply joking around in the locker room to actually going out. Winterim is always such a fun time since we're one of the only groups of people on campus, though it feels like we have it all to ourselves and we go sledding on the golf course or just on spontaneous adventures. One thing that stands out though was during Sophomore Summer, actually on my birthday, when my teammates and I all went down to the river to go kayaking and paddle boarding. It also happened to be the end of Master's that day, and we went to get ice cream at Fore U afterwards. Once we came back to our house, my friends threw a surprise party for me and it was unreal.

DS: Do you have any hidden talents?
KW: Hidden talents? Unless you count whipping out a phenomenal pun more than every now and then, then no, not really. However, I do have my own cooking show on Snapchat called Kayl's Kitch.

DS: If you could swap places with one teammate, who would it be and why?
KW: Lotti Odnoga, hands down. She's from Hungary and I've never been to Europe. She's also probably going to go to the Olympics, so that's kinda cool. And she has a dog.

DS: What are your plans after Dartmouth (as much as you can plan for anything during this pandemic)?
KW: I'm moving to Alabama to pursue a job in mechanical engineering with IDEX Corporation.

DS: What was the best gift you ever received?
KW: My first pair of goalie pads is probably the best gift I've ever received. I remember putting them on and they were so stiff, so I tried to walk and instantly fell over. But they opened the gate to the rest of my career, which ultimately led me to Dartmouth, so there's a lot of sentimental value there.

DS: Other than your parents who has had the most influence on your life and why?
KW: My brother has always had a strong influence on me. He's taught me so much in all aspects of life, and I owe a lot of who I am today to him and how he's impacted me. I can always go to him for anything, and I know he's always got my back.

Superlatives
Fastest: Sara McClanahan
Spends the most time reviewing film: Jennifer Costa
Strongest: Megan Cornell
Funniest laugh: CC Bowlby
Most intense: Hannah Humphreys
Best instincts during a game: Lotti Odnoga
Most likely to become a coach: Catherine Trevors
Most talkative: Emily McLaughlin
Best dancer: Katerina Dajia
Best singer: Georgia Kraus
Most outgoing: Givanna Foglia
Best dresser: Gabby Billing

Favorites
Movie: August Rush
TV show: Grey's Anatomy
Book: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Actor/Actress: Zac Efron
Sport outside of your own: Soccer
Dartmouth professor: Vicki May
Place on campus: Pine Park