ALUMNI NEWS
Athletic Hall of Fame
Alumni News
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kari zarzecki habay ’98 Kari Zarzecki Habay is a consummate team player who won both the Silver and Gold “P” for athletic excellence and sportsmanship, captained and contributed to championships in every sport she played at PDS, and led her Cornell lacrosse team to its first-ever Final Four appearance. Her first games, however, were with her older brothers, which may explain why she developed into such a talented and fearless competitor. The stakes were high in the Zarzecki backyard and no allowances were made because she was the youngest, and a girl. “I grew up being a total tomboy,” she says. “I always wanted to do what my big brothers (Matt ’96 and Mike ’97) were doing, whether they were playing football or ice skating.” Ms. Habay began playing organized soccer at an early age, and her afternoons and weekends were filled with practices and games for league and traveling teams. She remained on those teams, even as she added interscholastic soccer, basketball, and lacrosse at PDS. Jess Collins Anderson ’98 was her teammate in all three sports and says, “Kari is the rare athlete who possessed not just speed, but also incredible skill and a real toughness. This unique combination of strengths was in part natural ability, but, even more so, was achieved through her work ethic. She led by example in practices and games with her hard work, tenacity and persistence. You could always count on Kari to be consistent and highly competitive. To be able to rely on
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someone like this is a real gift and Kari's presence was key to any successes we were able to achieve as a team.” “Kari knew the value of a team,” Coach Jill Thomas says. “She knew everybody’s job and the rules and she was very coachable. She had great stick skills, speed, athleticism, and she was tough.” Ms. Habay was recruited by colleges in both soccer and lacrosse. Feeling it might be time to “give this lacrosse thing a shot,” she chose Cornell and was part of Coach Jenny Graap’s first recruiting class, helping the team gain national prominence. “What I really admired about her was the multi-sport background,” says Ms. Graap, who was named IWLCA National Coach of the Year in 2002. “I was definitely trying to find the best athletes that were going to be coachable and driven and all those things really fit ‘Zarz.’ She was very serious when it came to athletics: she just competed so strongly and so fiercely, and I think that all started at Princeton Day School. The fact that she excelled in multiple sports, and was then able to put all of her concentration and experience into just lacrosse had an impact. What was exceptional about Kari was the way she was able to balance the really rigorous academics with the intense Division I lacrosse commitment. “Kari was someone who earned playing time and earned a starting role at Cornell very early in her career and held on to that,” Ms. Graap continues. “Even over the course of three more years, there wasn’t a better recruit. She just kept improving