Hannah Burnett Signs with Florida
She’s an electrifying scorer and now Hannah Burnett will have the opportunity to play on a much larger stage. The Huntington High School senior has inked a NCAA Division I national letter of intent to play lacrosse at the University of Florida, a team that reached the Final Four last spring.
“Having the opportunity to play for Florida, which is ranked third in the nation, is an unbelievable blessing,” Ms. Burnett said. “Signing my letter of intent was one of the best feelings in the world. It was like all of the weight was being lifted off my shoulders and all of the hard work and time I had put into lacrosse had officially paid off. Signing that paper was making what had been a dream for me a reality and for that I couldn’t be any happier then I am right now.”
Ms. Burnett visited Florida in September 2011 for the first time. “As soon as I stepped foot on the campus, I was immediately impressed,” the teenager said. “I met with the coaches of the lacrosse team and they gave me a tour of the school. They brought me to all the academic buildings, football stadium, dorms and, most importantly, the lacrosse stadium, which impressed me the most. I was completely blown away by their facilities and I loved that all the locker rooms and that whole stadium was only for girls’ lacrosse.”
The Blue Devil star also had an opportunity to watch a Florida Gators football game during the trip and go down on the field during warm-ups, “which was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had,” Ms. Burnett said. “When I finally got to meet the girls on the team it felt like home. All of the girls were so welcoming and it felt like I was a part of the family.”
Her time in Florida really resonated with Ms. Burnett. “Coming away from the visit I kept saying to myself ‘this is it, this is where I want to go,’” she said. “After comparing some of the other schools I had visited to Florida, I realized they just couldn’t compete. After realizing that everything I could ever want was right in front of me, I verbally committed in late September 2011.”
Ms. Burnett began playing lacrosse as a third grader when she joined the Huntington Village Lacrosse Club program. She stuck with the sport and is heading into her fourth year with the Blue Devil varsity team. She has also played with the prestigious Long Island Yellow Jackets, winning countless tournaments with that team over the past eight years, including the U-15 national championship.
“Through a lot of hard work, commitment and eight years of summer tournaments with my Yellow Jackets team, I was able to accomplish my goal of being recruited by a high level lacrosse program,” Ms. Burnett said. “Playing Division I lacrosse for a Top Ten school has always been a dream for me. Ever since I was little, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Ms. Burnett was sensational last spring for the Blue Devils, scoring goals at an astonishing clip and earning Suffolk All-Division honors. She’s a fine student, too, and sets lofty goals for herself.
“I would really love to accomplish many things at the University of Florida,” Ms. Burnett said. “The first thing that I would like to accomplish is graduating with a 3.2 or higher. Academics are extremely important to me and maintaining a high GPA is definitely a huge priority. Another goal I would love to accomplish is winning the Division I national championship as a Gator. That is what I have always wanted and it would be amazing if I was a part of a team that won it.”
Florida is entering only its fourth year of competition, yet it has already reached heights that some programs can only dream of. Last year, the Gators finished with a 19-3 mark (13-1 at home), winning the American Lacrosse Conference championship and reaching the NCAA Final Four where the team dropped a 14-13 double overtime decision to Syracuse.
“I am really looking forward to this upcoming lacrosse season as a Blue Devil,” Ms. Burnett said about her final year in a Huntington uniform. “I have a feeling that we’re going to be stronger than ever before. We have some good underclassmen coming up and I believe we’re going to be a force. As a senior, I would love to make it to playoffs and compete for the county championship. That is the ultimate goal for this year and if our team continues to work hard and put in the time and effort, I believe we can accomplish anything.”