Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Harvard on September 20, 2025 , Win , 1, to, 0
Final
Women's Soccer
at Harvard
1
0
Brick & Brew Sophomore Summer - Katie Spanos
Throughout the summer, DartmouthSports.com will be focusing on members of the Class of 2020 who are currently in their "Sophomore Summers."
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This installment features Katie Spanos of the field hockey team. An All-Ivy League Second Team player as a sophomore in 2017, Spanos was the team leader in nearly every offensive category. No other player on the roster last fall scored more goals (9), dished out more assists (9) or had more points (27) than the Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, native.
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DartmouthSports.com: What was it in the recruiting process that sold you on Dartmouth?
Katie Spanos: It was a combination of things that made me realize Dartmouth was where I wanted to be. First, I really liked the flexibility that the D-Plan offers. Although it puts me on a different schedule from my friends at other schools, I really like the fast-paced, concentrated, three-class terms and the option to go off-campus for a term to get experience in your area of interest. Additionally, I had an immediate connection with the Dartmouth Field Hockey coaches and players I met. I really just saw myself fitting in more at Dartmouth and with DFH than anywhere else.
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DS: If you could play another sport at Dartmouth, what would it be and why?
KS: I didn't play other sports in high school because I was pretty busy with club and high school field hockey, but I think if I could play another sport here it would be ice hockey. Our team puts together an intramural ice hockey team every winter and it's such a cool sport! I especially have fun with it being my team's goalie because I can't skate well at all. I fully understand there is absolutely no chance I could be a collegiate ice hockey goalie, but we have a ton of fun doing that. We were also the IM champions this year, which was pretty exciting!
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DS: If you participate in any service activities, what are they and how did you get involved?
KS: On campus, I am a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as a representative for my team and also participate in Canaan Club. My teammates Evie Bird and Hailey Valerio are the leaders of Canaan Club and organize for us to go to Canaan Elementary in the morning to hang out with the kids in their gym class. The kids really like seeing Dartmouth athletes coming there just to spend time with them and we have a lot of fun doing it!
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DS: Other than your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life?
KS: Other than my parents, the greatest influence on my life and especially field hockey would be my high school field hockey coach Linda Kreiser. She is pretty well known in the field hockey world and such an inspiration to everyone she works with. She played on the Olympic team herself and has since been inducted into the Field Hockey Hall of Fame. She is the most positive person who has ever coached me and not only influenced me as a player, but taught me about the importance of having a positive attitude on and off the field. She has coached so many girls now with over 700 wins and six state championships and I just feel so lucky to have played under her for my four years in high school.
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DS: What has been your best on-field memory thus far in your Dartmouth career?
KS: My favorite on-field memory would definitely be our game at home against Columbia this past fall. We suffered a pretty bad loss to them the year before and were looking for redemption. I really saw our team come together and connect during that game, but the best moment was Taylor Hantman's overtime goal to give us the win! It was a really great moment for the entire team and one that I won't forget.
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DS: How is Hanover different or similar to where you grew up?
KS: Hanover is actually pretty similar to where I grew up and I think that's why I really liked the school when visiting for the first time. I come from a really small town in central Pennsylvania called Hummelstown, which is right next to Hershey (the chocolate place). It's a pretty rural area and Hummelstown is just a little town with one high school that the community rallies behind. I saw a lot of that in Hanover, which is why I think Dartmouth became home so quickly for me.
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DS: What show do you binge watch?
KS: My binge watching show is for sure The Office. I think I've watched it the whole way through about three times, but sometimes I just go back and watch random episodes. Our team loves reciting the "Boom Roasted" quotes from Michael Scott as well as Dwight's reference to "the vastly superior Dartmouth" so it has come to be a source of team bonding too.
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DS: What is your useless/hidden talent?
KS: My useless talent would definitely be knitting, because I'm pretty good at it but really can't make anything out of it. My sister taught me how to knit straight rows but I cannot really do much else, so really I can only make scarves. Most of the time I would just knit aimlessly then end up unwinding it all, so definitely a pretty useless talent.
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DS: Do you have a nickname on your team? Who gave it to you and why?
KS: I do have a nickname on my team which I think just about everyone uses except for my parents who still don't really understand it. They all call me "Leni." I think it was originally was given to me by Paige Duffy, who was a senior when I was a freshman. We had two Katies in my class, so it was decided we needed nicknames. My middle name is Elena so basically it came from that, but now Leni has turned into other things including Lennifer, Leonardo di Spanos, Lynyrd Skynyrd, but most commonly Leonard. I think my coaches call me Leonard most of the time now and I really don't think I would respond as well if they called me Katie.
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DS: What are your post-Dartmouth plans?
KS: I am not 100% sure about my post-Dartmouth plans as of now, but I'm majoring in biology, while also taking pre-med classes. I will likely take a gap year, hopefully to do clinical research, but then hopefully enroll in an MD-PhD program.
Sophomore Summer Archive
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This installment features Katie Spanos of the field hockey team. An All-Ivy League Second Team player as a sophomore in 2017, Spanos was the team leader in nearly every offensive category. No other player on the roster last fall scored more goals (9), dished out more assists (9) or had more points (27) than the Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, native.
Â
DartmouthSports.com: What was it in the recruiting process that sold you on Dartmouth?
Katie Spanos: It was a combination of things that made me realize Dartmouth was where I wanted to be. First, I really liked the flexibility that the D-Plan offers. Although it puts me on a different schedule from my friends at other schools, I really like the fast-paced, concentrated, three-class terms and the option to go off-campus for a term to get experience in your area of interest. Additionally, I had an immediate connection with the Dartmouth Field Hockey coaches and players I met. I really just saw myself fitting in more at Dartmouth and with DFH than anywhere else.
Â
DS: If you could play another sport at Dartmouth, what would it be and why?
KS: I didn't play other sports in high school because I was pretty busy with club and high school field hockey, but I think if I could play another sport here it would be ice hockey. Our team puts together an intramural ice hockey team every winter and it's such a cool sport! I especially have fun with it being my team's goalie because I can't skate well at all. I fully understand there is absolutely no chance I could be a collegiate ice hockey goalie, but we have a ton of fun doing that. We were also the IM champions this year, which was pretty exciting!
Â
DS: If you participate in any service activities, what are they and how did you get involved?
KS: On campus, I am a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as a representative for my team and also participate in Canaan Club. My teammates Evie Bird and Hailey Valerio are the leaders of Canaan Club and organize for us to go to Canaan Elementary in the morning to hang out with the kids in their gym class. The kids really like seeing Dartmouth athletes coming there just to spend time with them and we have a lot of fun doing it!
Â
DS: Other than your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life?
KS: Other than my parents, the greatest influence on my life and especially field hockey would be my high school field hockey coach Linda Kreiser. She is pretty well known in the field hockey world and such an inspiration to everyone she works with. She played on the Olympic team herself and has since been inducted into the Field Hockey Hall of Fame. She is the most positive person who has ever coached me and not only influenced me as a player, but taught me about the importance of having a positive attitude on and off the field. She has coached so many girls now with over 700 wins and six state championships and I just feel so lucky to have played under her for my four years in high school.
Â
DS: What has been your best on-field memory thus far in your Dartmouth career?
KS: My favorite on-field memory would definitely be our game at home against Columbia this past fall. We suffered a pretty bad loss to them the year before and were looking for redemption. I really saw our team come together and connect during that game, but the best moment was Taylor Hantman's overtime goal to give us the win! It was a really great moment for the entire team and one that I won't forget.
Â
DS: How is Hanover different or similar to where you grew up?
KS: Hanover is actually pretty similar to where I grew up and I think that's why I really liked the school when visiting for the first time. I come from a really small town in central Pennsylvania called Hummelstown, which is right next to Hershey (the chocolate place). It's a pretty rural area and Hummelstown is just a little town with one high school that the community rallies behind. I saw a lot of that in Hanover, which is why I think Dartmouth became home so quickly for me.
Â
DS: What show do you binge watch?
KS: My binge watching show is for sure The Office. I think I've watched it the whole way through about three times, but sometimes I just go back and watch random episodes. Our team loves reciting the "Boom Roasted" quotes from Michael Scott as well as Dwight's reference to "the vastly superior Dartmouth" so it has come to be a source of team bonding too.
Â
DS: What is your useless/hidden talent?
KS: My useless talent would definitely be knitting, because I'm pretty good at it but really can't make anything out of it. My sister taught me how to knit straight rows but I cannot really do much else, so really I can only make scarves. Most of the time I would just knit aimlessly then end up unwinding it all, so definitely a pretty useless talent.
Â
DS: Do you have a nickname on your team? Who gave it to you and why?
KS: I do have a nickname on my team which I think just about everyone uses except for my parents who still don't really understand it. They all call me "Leni." I think it was originally was given to me by Paige Duffy, who was a senior when I was a freshman. We had two Katies in my class, so it was decided we needed nicknames. My middle name is Elena so basically it came from that, but now Leni has turned into other things including Lennifer, Leonardo di Spanos, Lynyrd Skynyrd, but most commonly Leonard. I think my coaches call me Leonard most of the time now and I really don't think I would respond as well if they called me Katie.
Â
DS: What are your post-Dartmouth plans?
KS: I am not 100% sure about my post-Dartmouth plans as of now, but I'm majoring in biology, while also taking pre-med classes. I will likely take a gap year, hopefully to do clinical research, but then hopefully enroll in an MD-PhD program.
Sophomore Summer Archive
