A different person from Charlotte Latin Athletics is featured on the first Tuesday of each month with twenty questions to help the CLS community get to know some of our athletes, coaches, and supporters a bit better.

This month, meet Evie McMahan, a rising junior and three-sport athlete who just helped the Hawks capture a third consecutive NCISAA state championship in girls' lacrosse. She led the team in scoring this season and was second in assists, and although she considers lacrosse to be her primary sport, she also has significant roles on the varsity field hockey and girls' basketball teams. Read on to get Evie's insights on the different team dynamics and her fairly passionate opinion about apples.

 

1. You're a Latin Lifer, correct?

Yes, my entire family is, actually.

2. Really? Your parents met at Latin?

Yes, but Dad was a year older. They went to homecoming together, but they didn't date when they were in school here. And they both went to UNC, but they didn't date there either. My dad actually played basketball at Latin with Coach Faulkner, and I think maybe won a state championship. And my mom played soccer for Coach Horton.

3. That's awesome. You have a lot of family history here. And you have sisters at Latin too, right?

Yes, I have two sisters at Latin. My sister Lily just graduated and is going to The New School in New York next year. Then my sister Molly is a rising fifth grader.

4. What are your relationships like with your sisters?

My older sister and I are very different. We just have different interests. We don't really do things together but we get along well. My younger sister plays field hockey and has recently gotten into pickleball. I tried to get her to play lacrosse but she refuses. I think she sees me playing so much and she thinks that is not something she wants to do.

5. We'll definitely talk about lacrosse, but first, tell me about school. What are your favorite and least favorite subjects or classes?

I like math, because there's an answer. But this year, I really liked English with Ms. Siczek. She's super chill and she talks to us about a lot of different things, which is distracting in a good way. It makes class fun. I also like chemistry. I had really good teachers this year. I don't dislike any of my classes.

6. It sounds like you connected with Ms. Siczek. Are there any other teachers who've had a notable impact on you?

Señor Caraballo. He's so nice and he leads our club too. It's a service club called Letters for Rose that started during the pandemic when people couldn't visit elderly family members. There's a national program and so we made a chapter in Charlotte and started the club here (at Latin) and we meet every Tuesday and write letters to elderly people and deliver them to retirement communities.

7. You said "we." Who else started the club with you and how did Mr. Caraballo get involved?

It was me, Alicia Edwards, Katie Clark, and Payton Desai. Alicia and I were doing it initially, then Katie and Peyton joined in and we chose Señor Caraballo and asked if he would be our staff mentor so we could bring the idea to Mrs. Murphy for approval. It's actually super fun because there are people who come every Tuesday and we get to know each other.

8. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities other than athletics?

I like art. It takes me a really long time to do a project, though. I did this oil pastel of me and my sisters, but it took me two years to finish. Well, part of that was because I lost it. I was taking it home and had it in this cardboard thing to protect it, but I left it at field hockey and it got thrown away. I had worked on it for like four months and had to start over. Anyway, it's at school somewhere, I'm not really sure where. Now I'm working on a sculpture that has a lot of different pieces. I used burlap and resin to make the forms and each one will be a different color.

9. What's the first organized sport you remember participating in?

Basketball was the first organized sport I did. I was really into it from third to fifth grade. It was me, Neely (Hume), and Lucy (Dempsey). My dad was our coach. He was really into it. He made binders with all of our plays. He would do them on some online program and print them out. I don't know how effective that was, because we lost our first game like 40-0. I mean, we were not good. I have video. But we came back and won our next game. When we scored points in that game, everyone was screaming, we were so excited just to score. I did soccer, I think. I'm pretty sure I also did gymnastics. I never did swimming, but I did a lot of church league basketball and stuff like that.

10. Now you play all three seasons at Latin. What draws you to each of those sports? What do you like most and least about each?

Field hockey is my most recent addition. I started that in eighth grade because I really liked my lacrosse coach, Coach O'Brien, and she was doing field hockey too so I decided to try it. Turns out I liked it. I really like the team and my coach. It's a slower pace than my other two sports and there's not as much scoring, which I dislike. But the pace also helps in some ways – like if you turn the ball over, you can run back and get it because it doesn't move as fast. There's an opportunity to make plays on defense. Basketball is great because the team is smaller and we're super tight. I haven't liked having a different coach each year. And lacrosse...I just love the game. It's so fast-paced and there's so much action and scoring. There's a lot of skill involved and the better you get with your stick, the more you can do. I love my team too, obviously. There's nothing I dislike about lacrosse.

11. You had a new coach this year for field hockey. How was that and what was the season like?

Field hockey was great this season – I really liked it. In 2021, we could only play like three teams and had to play each of them multiple times (due to Covid restrictions). This year, we could play everyone, which made for better competition, and our team was closer. I really like Joey (Coach Prestidge) and he brought a lot to the program. He really emphasizes confidence and prioritized the mental side of training. I've never had a coach emphasize that so much before, so it was unique. He doesn't really yell, either, he's just a calm coach.

12. You also had a new coach in basketball and a pretty high level of success. What was that season like?

That was probably our peak for basketball. We had Maddie (Shannon) and Mary (Schleusner) and we relied on them a lot. Coach Smith was very different than our last coach. He's more traditional and built our play around our strengths. As a team, that's the closest team I've ever been on because of how small we are and because we just really meshed together. The team is going to be so different without Maddie and Mary. Mary is so loud and energetic and includes everyone, and you can be true to yourself because she just creates this atmosphere that's welcoming. Maddie's just super calm and you can always rely on her. She's more of a quiet leader but she and Mary work so well together. They definitely loved the team.

13. Lastly, lacrosse. You won another state championship! Is it safe to assume that the team dynamic was strong?

We obviously had a good season this year. We played a lot of harder teams from other states that was really good experience. Our first game was against Chattahoochee and they'd already played a bunch of games, but we hadn't. That was rough, but ultimately it was good because it showed us what we needed to work on. Then we had a really good win against Cardinal Gibbons and of course our goal was to defend the state championship. The Klingenbergs are so insanely good and consistent and we really rely on them, but they were injured a lot so we got to experience what it'll be like next year without them. I just really love the team. Coach Nikki has a very different style than most everyone else. She's pretty hard on us but you can tell that she really cares. She has us all over to her house and makes us feel like family and I really appreciate that.

14. You're playing club lacrosse too, right? So there's probably a lot of travel for tournaments in your summer schedule.

Yes, I play with Charlotte Style and we have four tournaments this summer. They're all in Maryland, I think. It's a big year for me for recruiting, so I told my parents we could not go on any trips this summer. I definitely want to play lacrosse in college, but I don't want to sacrifice academics to go to school for lacrosse. I want to go somewhere that I would apply anyway. If I can't get a spot at one of those schools, then I'll try to walk on.

15. Let's finish up with some fun questions. When you were in kindergarten, what did you want to be when you grow up? And now?

When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a WNBA player. Or the first girl in the NBA – that was a goal of mine. Not very realistic considering how small I was. Now, I'm thinking business. Either entrepreneurship or private equity or venture capital. That's what my dad does and he really likes his job, but I think I want to also be in a more creative business field.

16. Do you have any pets?

I have a dog. She's a Teacup Goldendoodle so she's very small and her name's Bear. She's two years old and we got her during Covid. I'm allergic to dogs so it's a bit of a sacrifice, but it only affects me when she licks me.

17. What wakes you up in the morning?

I'm a super deep sleeper, so I can't really wake up by myself. I set like five alarms and sometimes I still don't hear them, so sometimes my parents have to wake me up. Today, I was hoping my Alexa would work and it did. That was a bit of a gamble.

18. Who is a sports figure you admire?

I really like watching the UNC lacrosse team, specifically Jamie Ortega and Ally Mastroianni. Oh, and Aurora Cordingley, from Maryland.

19. Do you have a splurge food?

My favorite food is Honeycrisp apples. The best brand is Rainier. When you see that at the grocery store you know you're going to get a good one. I like other apples too, but Honeycrisp is the top of the pyramid. The next level down is Fiji and Pink Lady, they're fine. At the bottom is Gala. I do not recommend. Galas are horrible.

20. What's been your most memorable Latin sports moment so far?

Winning the (girls' lacrosse) state championship both my freshman and sophomore year was so memorable because we get to celebrate our hard work paying off. There is not a better feeling than when everyone storms the field after winning that game. (Click here to see that moment....)