Anna Woods is a multi-sport athlete who really does it all, from being a varsity cheerleader for the fall and winter season, then going straight into her spring season of girls lacrosse. Woods is able to find a way to be a star athlete and still take advanced classes in school.
Woods has been playing her main sport, lacrosse, since 4th grade, starting off playing for the Junior Pacer lacrosse team. She is now a part of the girls’ varsity lacrosse team at Hayes and starts as a defensive player.

When Woods isn’t on the field for lacrosse, she is cheering on the boys’ basketball and football teams as a varsity cheerleader.
“Lacrosse is definitely my main sport,” Woods said. “Cheerleading, [which] I started in middle school, is something I just do for fun.”
From jumping from sport to sport, she still manages to stay academically inclined; this year she is taking AP Psychology, Physics Honors, Composition I and Intro to Education through Columbus State. All these on top of being an editor for the Hayes yearbook staff, Delhi.
Being a part of sports allows for a structured schedule that makes it easier to manage her schoolwork.
“[Doing sports] just provided a very set routine for every single day,” Woods said.
Woods hasn’t entered into her senior season of lacrosse yet, but in her junior year she was awarded Second Team in the Ohio Capital Conference (OCC) in lacrosse. During cheer season, she received the UCA All-American cheerleader title. In both sports she has received Scholar Athlete awards during all her high school seasons.
Woods said that the hardest part of balancing her sports schedule is having an overlap between basketball cheer season and the start of lacrosse. Conditioning for lacrosse starts in February, right as the basketball season starts tournament games.
“Our first few weeks of the season for lacrosse [will be] just practice and we won’t start scrimmaging until March,” Woods said. “So I will just go and cheer at the games that we do have […] then go to practice for lacrosse on the days of the week when we don’t have a basketball game.”
During the summer, Woods normally spends her time participating in club lacrosse with her team “Big Fish.” However, this summer she will spend her time preparing for the collegiate level at the University of Findlay, where she is committed to playing lacrosse while majoring in English Education.
Woods mentioned the reason she chose the University of Findlay is because of the family atmosphere that the girls lacrosse team has, which is a big part of why she loved the sport.
Woods had a minor few setbacks this school year due to dislocating her kneecap, putting her behind in training. However, she will be ready to go by the time she starts her senior season of lacrosse.
“The thing I’m looking forward to most about the lacrosse season is just getting one more season to play with my best friends,” Woods said. “I would consider the lacrosse team to be like a big family, so I’m just excited to be able to play one last season with them.”