Athlete of the Week: Courtney Peyko
As a field hockey captain and varsity hockey player, senior Courtney Peyko has dedicated herself to the pursuit of athletic perfection, working hard both on and off the field as she carved a path through Exeter athletics.
Peyko began her field hockey career three years ago in her home state of Vermont. She started playing her junior year in Vermont before coming to Exeter as a repeat upper. Peyko was at first unfamiliar with the sport, as she had been a soccer player for the preceding years of her life.
“I hadn’t picked up a field hockey stick before my coach convinced me to attend tryouts that first year, but I soon found myself unexpectedly falling in love with the the sport,” Peyko said. “I never wanted to admit it to my coach, but looking back at the years she spent pestering me into playing, my biggest regret is not starting sooner.”
Peyko, however, has made up for lost time. In the last three years, she has not only improved her ability, but has also honed her mental skills and her strategic play. Now, during her third season and her senior year, Peyko’s prowess on the field is obvious to any observer. “She’s like Sherlock Holmes,” fellow captain and senior Bronwyn Shields said of Peyko. “She can always deduce who has the ball.”
"We don’t have cliques and you could put any combination of us together and we’d have an amazing time doing anything from a team dinner to doing absolutely nothing at all.”
Upper Bonnie LaBonte agreed with Shields and called Peyko a “great field hockey player. I couldn’t be more impressed with the amount of effort and grit that she plays with.”
Peyko’s success in field hockey does not come easily, though. She works hard each practice and her dedication drives her through every minute of every game.
“Every practice I get to the field early,” Peyko said. “I practice hard so it translates to gameplay where I leave it all on the field, for myself and for my team. I hold my teammates to high expectations, and they do the same for me.”
Coach Melissa Pacific called Peyko “a focused player” who “takes her position and leadership seriously.”
Peyko also stressed the importance of team chemistry, especially in a high-pressure environment like Exeter. “As busy as we all are here, I find it very important to always make time for my team,” she said. “I want to be someone my teammates look up to, because everyone has role models. And to be a teammate’s role model would be the highest level of success for me.”
Peyko has undoubtedly achieved that goal. Her teammates and coaches alike were quick to praise her hard work and tenacity. “Peyko leads by example,” upper Caroline Colbert said. “She gives 100 percent at every practice and can always be relied on to put it all on the field.”
Coach Elizabeth Hurley said that Peyko is “definitely dedicated” and “one of the first people out on the field and one of the last people to leave. I found out that she has a stash of field hockey balls so that she can practice when we aren’t there,” Hurley said.
Peyko’s leadership not only helps to facilitate a cohesive team environment but also provides the younger students on the team with a positive role model and friend. “She’s a lot fun, a good leader and an all around great teammate to have,” LaBonte said of Peyko. “I’m happy I have two seasons with her on my team.”
Colbert agreed with LaBonte and said that Peyko “goes out of her way to help others and has been a really good leader, teammate and friend. She is a great person that everyone looks up to and is there for all of us,” Colbert said.
“We only have two preps on the team, and I think that Courtney has taken on that older sibling role to those girls,” Hurley said. “She’s kind of taken them under her wing and made sure that they’re doing fine.”
The relationship between Peyko and the other players goes both ways. “As a player, I’m so fortunate to have the privilege of playing with this group of girls and our wonderful coaching staff,” Peyko said. “I try to set an example for my teammates and give them my all so they will give me the same in return.”
Peyko praised the team dynamic this season and said that the girls have done a great job of forming a strong bond as a team, not only as individuals. “On our team, younger athletes are just as much part of the team as those who are older. For that reason, we spend a lot of time together to develop team chemistry,” Peyko said. “We don’t have cliques and you could put any combination of us together and we’d have an amazing time doing anything from a team dinner to doing absolutely nothing at all.”
Peyko also plays ice hockey in the winter, a sport which used to occupy nearly all of her athletic attention. However, since her introduction to field hockey, Peyko’s priorities have changed significantly. “When I came to Exeter, I strictly considered myself an ice hockey player,” she said. “Since I began last fall, my perspective has entirely changed. I’m a field hockey player. The program here at Exeter made me realize how much I love the sport and that I wouldn’t be the same person without it.”
Peyko made a huge sacrifice for the team going into this year’s season by completely changing her position to better fit the team’s lineup.
“Last year we had her as a forward, and she scored a couple goals for us,” Hurley said. “But coming back in the fall of this year, we knew that we needed help on defense. I let her know at the end of last spring that we needed her on defense. She worked so hard over the summer to get ready for the change, and now she is the center of our defensive backfield, which is amazing.”