By Martina Barrera-Hernandez
Northwestern Athletic Communications
EVANSTON, Ill. - For some athletes away games can be daunting, but for Ann Arbor, Mich., natives Kelsey Thompson, Kelsey Gradwohl and Katie Yeatts of the Northwestern field hockey team, some road trips this season are an opportunity to feel at home.
Although Wildcat senior Thompson, attended Pioneer High School and both Yeatts, a freshman, and Gradwohl, a junior, attended Huron High School, the three have known each other for a long time. Gradwohl and Yeatts grew up on the same block and are close family friends. Coincidentally, assistant coach Zoe Almquist also attended Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor and played for the Wildcats.
"I've known Kelsey Gradwohl and Kelsey Thompson all of my life and I'm really good friends with both of them," Yeatts said. "It's so nice to go back home and have all those memories come flooding back."
The Wildcats traveled to Ann Arbor last Friday, Oct. 10 to play Stanford, and are there again this Friday to face Michigan. The team will be returning to Ann Arbor for a third time for the Big Ten tournament next month.
As a freshman on the team, Yeatts enjoys traveling back home for the games. It has helped ease the transition from to college life away from home.
"You're coming in on the highway and you see the `A' that you recognize and it's just such a heartwarming feeling," Yeatts said.
While in Ann Arbor, Thompson and Yeatts opened up their homes to team dinners. For Thompson, one of seven kids in her family, these dinners are a "best-case scenario" because she can bring her friends and family together in one place.
"I'm quite a homebody and a big family person so it's always nice to not only be in Ann Arbor but also be at our house for dinner," Thompson said.
In Yeatts' case, being able to share her home with her teammates creates a special connection. It helps them understand "what you're talking about when you say, `I miss home.'"
"It's so warm and cozy to be in a house that you recognize, but with all these new faces," Yeatts said.
Not only do the girls feel at home off the field, but also on the playing field. According to Thompson it is "fun to play in front of a home crowd" made up of friends, family and Ann Arborites.
"It's nice to be in a place where I feel really familiar," Gradwohl said. "Even though they redid the field, it's the same layout so I feel like I'm at home even though we're playing an away game."
Although they grew up as Michigan fans, the transition to being a Northwestern fan for these three Ann Arborites proved to be extremely easy once they joined the NU family.
"It's nice to be the only one in the family to say I'm a Wildcat," Yeatts said.
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