By Michael McCurdy
The Iowa field hockey team has started with a record of 5-1, and a lot of players on the team have contributed to the booming start. Two in particular, though, are juniors Taylor Omweg and Melissa Progar.
That’s not the only thing they have in common. They also went to the same high school in Yorktown, Virginia. Although there are plenty of programs in the East, Omweg believes Iowa was the best decision.
“Iowa field hockey is pretty well-known around the nation; it has a really good reputation and tradition,” Omweg said. “Everyone around the nation interested in field hockey pretty much knows Iowa field hockey is good.”
The two have known each other most of their lives, too. Omweg enjoys getting to play with Progar in college, and she said it is not much different than high school because both are still in their same positions.
Progar also enjoys playing with her teammate, and more importantly her longtime friend.
“It’s awesome playing with Taylor because we’ve known each other since we were 3 years old,” Progar said. “It is nice having a little piece of home here with me at school.”
Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci said she recruited both players separately, and it ended up they were both attracted to the Iowa field hockey tradition. It was not just the tradition that attracted Progar and Omweg, though. They had some assistance from their club coach, former Iowa field hockey All-American Quan Nim Anderson.
“We really recruited within their club program, and their club coach was an All-American here at Iowa, that’s how it all played in together,” Cellucci said.
Progar and Omweg were both field hockey stars at Tabb High School. They led their team to back-to-back state championships in 2010-11.
Field hockey was not the only sport both women excelled in; each was a tremendous track athlete. Progar was first-team all indoor state track in Virginia, and Omweg was named track MVP in 2012, and her 4×400-meter team won state three years in a row.
Even though each enjoyed track, they knew field hockey was their favorite sport. Omweg only did track to stay in shape for field hockey and for fun. Progar had similar reasons as to why she chose to further her play of field hockey in college instead.
“I always knew that field hockey was my No. 1 sport, and I would want to go to college to play it, I just love it so much,” Progar said.
Though the two are similar, they also have their differences.
“We have different interests, her major is sports and rec management, so she’s more on the sports side of it,” Progar said. “My major is human physiology, because I’m a lot more interested in science, but other than that, we are fairly similar.”
Another area where they differ is their style of play, Cellucci said. Progar is the ultimate eliminator and has good tactical sense. She’s also more offensive attack-minded than Omweg.
When it comes to Omweg, Cellucci thinks she’s more of a finesse player who has a high stamina.
“Taylor literally can run all day,” Cellucci said. “She was a track star in high school, and she’s a little bit more defensive-minded than Melissa, but both are exceptional players in what they do.”
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