Reagan Richeson’s lacrosse journey started like many others. She picked up a stick when she was in the seventh grade and has not been able to put it down since. It is easy to follow in someone else’s footsteps when you have an older sister leading the way.
“My older sister also played the same position as me, so she taught me everything I know,” Richeson said.
But she quickly started paving her own path.
All throughout high school, she was a three-sport athlete. Along with lacrosse, Richeson also played field hockey and basketball.
The trio kept her busy already, but still she found time for club field hockey, club lacrosse and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball in the off-seasons.
Until junior year of high school, field hockey was her main focus. There was just something about lacrosse that stood out above all else.
Her high school team, the fun she had in practice, rose above everything else.
“I love everything about lacrosse,” Richeson said. “I love shooting, I love dodging. All the small stuff, all the way up to the gameplay.”
While those sports may not be a part of her life anymore, they played a huge part in making her into the athlete she is today. Each one taught her something different that she still carries with her to this day.
Basketball specifically helped to shape the discipline aspect of it. All three sports gave her the extra push in training.
Going from a multi-sport athlete in high school to a single-sport focus in college can be an adjustment for anyone, and it certainly was for Richeson. But it was one she found exciting.
“I was able to put my full focus on the sport that I love the most,” she said.
Even while looking at colleges, Richeson was looking at schools for field hockey.
One visit to Slippery Rock University for a lacrosse camp in the summer of 2022 made her decision easy; it was love at first sight.
“I fell in love with the coaches, the team, how they ran their practices,” she said.
Richeson also said that was one thing that set SRU apart from other schools was the culture of the team.
“That’s very important because it was super welcoming,” she said. “Being surrounded by people that have the same passions, the same personalities, that was very comforting.”
Athletics was not the only reason she had her sights set on The Rock. Academics played a huge part in that as well.
Coming in as an exercise science major, Slippery Rock offered something that not many other schools do.
“They have the clientele that you get at the end of your fourth year, which was very different from the other schools I was looking to play at,” she said.
SRU was the only school she was looking at in Pennsylvania, and was also the only school she was looking at for lacrosse.
The Lewis Center, Ohio native was looking at universities in the surrounding area, but nothing felt as right as Slippery Rock did.
After her first official visit, Richeson committed right away.
“I knew this was where I wanted to be,” she said.
The only downside is being far away from home. 196 miles separate her from her family.
“My family [are] like my best friends,” Richeson said. “I’m very, very close with my parents.”
Even with the distance, her family still travels for some of her games, and they call every day.
Another thing that lessens the burden of being homesick is having her brother close by.
Reed Richeson is currently playing for the Johnstown Tomahawks in the North American Hockey League (NAHL).
“I go there sometimes for his games if I have off. Or he’ll come here to support me,” she said.
While the distance may be hard, she does not let it distract her from being the best athlete she can be while here.
In her freshman season with The Rock, she started in 11 of the 17 games she played and tallied a total of 39 goals with 69 shots on goal.
But like everyone else, she had to earn her way into a starting position. Coming to college, being surrounded by other talented athletes, finding ways to fit in was one of Richeson’s most challenging moments.
“Adjusting to a new team, a college sport, and trying to find my place was probably the hardest part,” she said.
That did not stop her from putting in the extra effort on and off the field to earn that spot.
And she did not do it alone. She had the help of one specific teammate her first year who helped adjust her to the gameplay of a collegiate sport.
A senior at the time, Lauren Searles clocked in extra hours with the then-freshman to help her build on cutting, shooting, lifting and defensive strategies.
“She was always there to push me and help me understand the plays more,” Richeson said.
Searles was also an attacker, so being able to train under someone with more experience and a deeper understanding of the position was a boost for Richeson.
Her biggest support system resides off the field: her family.
“My biggest supporter, my role models, my life, are my parents.”
Richeson calls her parents before every game. When they cannot travel to support her in person, they watch every livestream and call her right after.
“They are my best friends,” she said.
At times when she is home on break, her parents drive her to the field and always push her for extra training. All the hard work pays off.
In her sophomore season, she started every game but one that she played, almost doubling her starts from the first season. This year is when she started racking up the accolades.
In 2024, Richeson led The Rock in shots on goal while ranking second in goals. She also took third in total points and fifth in assists. On 13 different showings, she had multiple goals during a match.
The now-junior works every day to improve her gameplay, whether that be on the field or off it.
Before playing a team, she takes the time to learn the defender’s tendencies. When she can, she watches the game film and works to understand how other defense zones work. But her biggest work comes on the turf.
“I try to improve on dodging, shooting quicker, changing my levels when I do shoot to try to get the ball past the goalie,” Richeson said.
That is one of her biggest evolutions: turning into a triple-threat player.
“Being able to assist, drive and dodge, just being able to hit that open person faster has been a big thing for me,” she said.
While the statistics prove what a decorated athlete she is, any sport has a mental game of its own, and lacrosse is no different. Richeson considers herself to be a big mental player.
“I want to be able to learn from what went wrong. Then later, put extra reps in at the field to sharpen that,” she said.
Whether it is on the bus ride back after an away game or by herself, she pulls film clips to study and work on to improve in her next showing.
“But you have to learn to let it go and how to be better. We reflect on it, but then we just work on getting one percent better each day,” she said.
Yes, the long practices and extra field time could be the reason for a good game, but sometimes it’s the superstitions and pre-game rituals. And for Richeson, that plays a huge part.
Not only does she call her parents before every game, but she also always eats pasta the night before a game.
“Also, a more recent superstition is that a group of us meet the night before and we do a bible study,” she said.
Then, when it gets to game time, she has an energy drink an hour before, as well as a bagel with peanut butter. Her hairstyle is always a slick back ponytail, and no matter what, she always does her hair with teammate/roommate Paige Jenkins.
“I pray on the field with a group of my teammates. Then I do an extra prayer with Maddie Blazy, McKenzie Murphy and Grace Rotter. And Maddie will write a verse on her hand from John,” she said.
Having a team that is like family can make the long seasons more bearable. Every athlete, no matter what sport or level, is bound to experience some type of burnout, but being around people who you see as your biggest cheerleaders is the best type of motivation.
“I think having the team that we have, and the culture that we have, we always motivate each other to be the best versions of ourselves,” Richeson said. “If my 100% is only 10%, I always know that my teammates will be able to take the other 90%.”
Her teammates are easily her favorite part of playing lacrosse. Meeting people, sharing a passion and growing together is an experience like no other.
“We are all best friends, but we definitely are a family,” she said.
Now imagine getting to share some of the most memorable moments in your life with your favorite people. For Richeson, that was making it into the final four last season.
After finishing the 2025 year off with a record of 18-3 and undefeated inside the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), The Rock made history by bringing home their first National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament win on May 10 of that year. The team gained a road win against East Stroudsburg University, 9-3 at Whitenight Field.
The White and Green advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before getting edged out by Adelphi University.
Being in that tournament and making history was what stood out the most.
“It was just the entire experience. The hotel, getting to play on that field, the different people that we met through being there. It was really cool to get to experience that,” she said.
But lacrosse is a long season, stretching from late February into, sometimes, late May. Juggling that on top of academics can seem daunting. However, it is a challenge that Richeson handles with grace, and she chalks it all up to time management.
She glances over everything she needs to do for lacrosse for the week, then finds specific hours she can set aside just for studying. She also meets with a group of her classmates a couple of times a week to study and review lectures, so when a big exam comes, she is not cramming.
Trying to factor a personal life into an already-busy schedule can seem quite impossible, but not for Richeson.
“Throughout the week, I try, once a day, to do something for myself,” she said.
Whether that is just getting her favorite coffee or finding time to journal, it is the little things that keep her grounded in her athletics and academics.
Whatever she is doing is working, and her accolades continue to stack up.
Richeson currently holds seventh place in SRU history for total shots, ninth in shots on goal, 10th in goals and 14th in points. She sees it all as a testament to how hard she has worked since playing her first full season of lacrosse back in the eighth grade.
“I’ve put in a lot of hours to lacrosse, and I think it’s definitely a rewarding and exciting feeling,” she said. “But I would never be able to do it without my teammates or the other attackers and people on the field that I’ve learned to work so well with.”
All of her successes she attributes to her teammates, her family and the people she surrounds herself with. This is the biggest piece of advice she passes on.
“Surround yourself with people who motivate you and push you to be the best version of yourself,” Richeson said. “I’m lucky. A lot of my teammates are my best friends. They’re the best people that push me to be the best athlete, the best person I can be.”
