Over an eight-year span that was punctuated by five NCAA Division 1 titles, Sara Harrington, and then her youngster sister, Kerri, were defensive stalwarts for the vaunted women’s lacrosse program at Northwestern University.
Sara arrived in 2006 after powering Westwood High to a pair of state titles in 2003 and 2005, piling up 100 career goals and 66 assists. As a collegian, she moved to the back as a specialist and played an integral role on a defensive unit that backboned three national championships. Her senior year, the Wildcats yielded just 8.7 goals per game. And on senior day, she converted a free position attempt with 1:54 left for her first collegiate goal, graduating with a perfect shooting percentage. Harrington started 51 of her 89 career games.
Kerri arrived at NU in the fall of 2010 with big shoes to fill. And in the NCAA Division 1 title game the following spring against Maryland, she earned her first start from head coach, and Hingham native, Kelly Amonte Hiller.
The move paid off. Harrington helped contain Tewaaraton Award finalist Sarah Mollison, who went pointless for the first time in time in 67 games. Northwestern pulled out an 8-7 victory.
“It was kind of unexpected,’’ recalled Kerri, who was also part of an NCAA championship in 2012.
“I hadn’t got much time that season and [Amonte Hiller] put me in and I got a little lucky. It was my first career start. I was safeguarding [Mollison], and it’s definitely something I embraced. I did it through the rest of my college career.’’
Kerri graduated from Northwestern in 2014, works NBC in digital ad sales and resides in Midtown Manhattan. Sara lives in Chicago with her husband, Richard Nassif, an assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Northwestern. She is a strategic consultant for Humana, working within the Medicare segment.
The Harrington sisters have stayed active in lacrosse.
Kerri plays for the New York Athletic Club and travels to compete against college teams during the fall. She also coaches seventh and eighth graders in Bronxville, N.Y. Sara has helped coach the Chicago Wind, a club team based in Hinsdale, and has also spent time as JV coach at Hinsdale Central High School.
The younger Harrington was also part of two state titles at Westwood in 2008 and 2009 (the Wolverines were 71-2 in her career). As a defensive leader and faceguarding specialist at NU, Kerri earned All-America honors from WomensLax.com as a senior. During an 11-8 win over Louisville in the NCAA tourney, she held 100-point scorer Nikki Boltja to just two assists.
Kerri says her drive from playing sports helps in her role at NBC.
“I’ve got a crazy work week so I put my championship ring on today,’’ she said. “I always put that on when I need inspiration.
“I’d say athletics mostly plays into attitude and preparation. I’m in the sales department in my group, so it’s going all day long, making decisions on the fly and working toward an end goal. Our coach always said don’t worry about game time, because the game has already been won or lost by your preparation. I have that same mentality at work. If there is a big sales pitch, it’s already been won or lost in the preparation. Every day I need to remember that.’’
Her two national championship rings serve as reminders.
John Johnson can be reached at jjohnson49@comcast.net.
