Lehigh University Athletics
Healthy Hynoski helps Lehigh to fast start
1/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
With all of these things in her favor, it may seem like Hynoski has never encountered adversity, but that is not the case. The 5-9 guard has battled injuries her entire career, missing more games with each passing season, topped off by her junior season, when she battled through mono and a foot injury, limiting her action to just 13 games. Despite Mary’s stretch of bad luck on the court, she never once gave up or thought about giving up.
“I have received great support from my teammates, coaches and family through all of my injuries,” explains Hynoski. “A lot of us on the team have had to battle through injury at one point in our career, so when someone gets hurt, we know how they are feeling. We just do our best to always be there and lend support.”
“Mary is the epitome of what kind of student-athletes you want in your program,” explains head coach Sue Troyan. “She is always putting the team before herself and really exemplifies how you want the kids on your team to act, on the court, in the classroom, with her leadership and by being a role model.”
Troyan continues, “Mary always puts the team in front of her self and has just grown so much from her freshman to senior seasons, staying positive through it all. She is a phenomenal person.”
Hynoski has never been able to not lend support for others; something that she says comes from having a great family around her. “I have a very strong family around me, from my parents to my grandparents, to my aunts and uncles. They are avid followers and have been for as long as I can remember, be that athletically or academically.” Hynoski continues, “They have given me the opportunity to achieve all of my expectations and I can’t thank them enough for all that they have done.”
When Hynoski was looking at a school to go to, she says that she was intrigued by the uniqueness of the basketball team at Lehigh. “I absolutely loved the coaches. Coach Troyan cares for us all so much and it just feels like we are all a big family.” Hynoski continues, “The atmosphere of the team when I came to visit was just incredible, I knew this was the place for me.”
“Mary has had different setbacks each season while she has been at Lehigh in terms of injuries, so I don’t think we have ever seen what she is truly capable of,” explains Troyan. “She just needs to get the reps at practice and in games and needs to be consistent in how she performs.”
Troyan continues, “She is a great defender and the most athletic player we have on the team, so that enables her to make things happen for us. She can start our transition game with a steal or get past a defender with her quick first step, which enables her to set up a teammate for an easy basket. She is so talented, it just comes down to her having confidence in her ability and us having confidence in her.”
While at Lehigh, Hynoski has become extremely close with her classmates on the team, seniors Jessica DePalo, Chantal St. Laurent and Kelly Berk. A closeness as Hynoski tells us, that started even before their freshman years did. “We all talked before we came to Lehigh about coming here for one night to meet the team and tour the campus. It was tough to find a day because Chantal lives so far away, but we knew it would be good for us to meet one another before we started school here.”
Hynoski continues, “We all brought pictures when we visited and began to talk on Instant Messenger on the computer when we returned home. We really just got to know one another so well after spending that visit together. It is a unique friendship that we have, in that we all have such different personalities, but we click so well with one another. We’re inseparable now, and I know that we’ll be friends forever.”
Hynoski also has a special relationship with many of her professors, including Diane Hyland and Steve Buell. “Dr. Hyland brings her daughter to almost every one of our home games and all of us on the team have grown fairly close to her daughter. Dr. Buell is an avid fan of our team too, and that means a lot to have your professors care for you outside of the classroom.”
Buell enjoys having Hynoski in his classes, as well as taking his children to see the entire Lehigh women’s basketball team in action. “My family has been big fans of Lehigh women’s basketball for a while now; we really enjoy the style they play. Mary is a very hard worker both in the classroom and on the court and I think that she works as hard as most any student I've taught in recent memory.”
Buell concludes, “She's had to overcome injuries and mono during her time here, but continues to work hard and doesn’t let that stuff hold her back. She always came to class, sat in the front and wasn't afraid to participate. She was definitely one of my favorite students.”
Now as a senior, Hynoski and the rest of the Mountain Hawks have just one thing on their minds. “We want to see how far we can go in the Patriot League Tournament,” Hynoski exclaims with a smile. “We have the tools in terms of talent and experience. I think the addition of Coach (Glenn) Rigney and Coach (Milena) Flores is really going to help us a great deal as well.”
Hynoski concludes, “I’ve learned while I’ve been here that the relationships you make in college will last a lifetime and I can already sense that with the way people have been there for me during my injuries. I have had an extremely positive experience here at Lehigh and would love to end it all with a deep run in the postseason tournament and just a fun senior season.”
Hynoski and her teammates are off to the best start ever under head coach Sue Troyan at 13-5 and for the second consecutive season, are a perfect 5-0 in Patriot League play. Mary is averaging seven points and 7.5 rebounds per game, which leads Lehigh and the Patriot League, quite remarkable considering she is a guard. She also leads the league in offensive rebounds with 49 and has four double-doubles to her credit, which is tops in the league. Hynoski and the Mountain Hawks will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Army on Thursday night at
