GIFT OF GAB: Gabby Vukasin controls the puck in a 2009 game during her senior season for the Princeton High girls’ hockey team. She went to star for the Williams College women’s team. This Saturday, Haddon-Vukasin, who was also a standout goalie for the Tiger girls’ soccer team, is being homered as part of the 16th Induction class to the Princeton High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
By Bill Alden
Gabby Vukasin had a lot on her plate athletically during her time at Princeton High from 2006-10.
In the fall, Vukasin starred as a goalie for the PHS girls’ soccer team. Once the winter rolled around, Vukasin took to the ice where she was the go-to finisher for the Tiger girls’ program. In addition, she played both club soccer and hockey.
For Vukasin, now known as Haddon-Vukasin, keeping busy helped her excel academically as well as athletically.
“I will say I think that made me a great student-athlete because I had practice year-round for something before or after school every day,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “I started playing for the Colonials (travel hockey team) and I remember those drives were pretty long and I always did homework in the car.”
Haddon-Vukasin did a lot of good work on the field and the ice as she made Mercer 33 girls’ soccer all-stars and earned All-WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) honors.
That excellence put her on the path to being selected for the Princeton High Athletic Hall of Fame and this Saturday, Haddon-Vukasin will honored as part of the 16th Induction class to the school’s Hall of Fame at the Mercer Oaks Country Club in West Windsor. (For details on the HOF awards dinner, see page 36.)
She will be joined in the class by the following: track star Dan Tindall ’67; football and track standout Jay Springer ’68; star field hockey goalie Caylyn Tobin ’86; boys’ soccer standout goalie Steve Hellstern ’10; the 1986 boys’ cross country team; the 1989 girls’ indoor track team; and cross country and track coach Coach Tom McMorrow.
In reflecting on her PHS years, Haddon-Vukasin pointed to early morning hockey practices as a way to form bonds with her teammates.
“The thing that I remember the most is just the camaraderie of the team,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “Getting up for the 5:30 a.m. practices, you are suffering together and it brings you together.”
On the ice, Haddon-Vukasin gained leadership skills through her role as the team’s go-to player.
“It helped me develop as a leader, I was a captain on many teams after that,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “It definitely was stressful, especially in the beginning. You are looking to be the best player and it is come on, you can score that one more goal. That was me a lot of times. It did make me learn how to push myself to my limits.”
PHS girls’ hockey head coach Christian Herzog credited Haddon-Vukasin with giving her all for the program.
“She was willing to do whatever was best for the team; she was a forward when I first started and then senior year she ended up being a captain and moved over the defense,” said Herzog, who is entering his 17th season guiding the program this winter. “She would have put up a lot more points had she been a forward. She still put up significant points as a defenseman in the best interests of the team.”
Haddon-Vukasin also lit a fire under the team in her role as captain.
“As for leadership, she would be vocal in the locker room,” added Herzog. “You could hear her outside saying, “girls I am not playing around.” She was a travel hockey player who wanted to win and do well.”
During her career, Haddon-Vukasin did very well, establishing herself as one of the best players in team history.
“To me, she is the definition of grit,” said Herzog, who considers Haddon-Vukasin as one of the top three players he has coached with the program. “You could try to coach it but grit is something where you either have it or you don’t.”
As a soccer goalie, Haddon-Vukasin showed her grit on the pitch.
“It was very different but they are both like very sprinty positions,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “You are sprinting to the ball, sprinting back into position. It wasn’t the running constantly but I loved playing goalie. If I wasn’t getting enough shots, secretly I was rooting for the other team to get the ball back and get some shots.”
Haddon-Vukasin’s PHS experience helped lay the foundation for her to enjoy a superb career for the Williams College women’s hockey team where she went from a walk-on to a key player and team captain.
“I would say pushing on the ice was key, I became very much an effort player in college,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “I think that knowing that we are down a goal and you can score; It really, really conditioned me for being one of those people who can just push.”
Pushing hard led Haddon-Vukasin to emerge as a star for the Ephs.
“It felt really good because I worked for it,” said Haddon-Vukasin, who scored 34 goals and 27 assists in her career for Williams, including 11 game-winning goals, the second most in program history. “Even to this day, I get a lot of satisfaction out of working for something and then receiving it. The girls were amazing on that team. It was really a team, team, team sport. It is family.”
Working hard to excel in the classroom, Haddon-Vukasin earned bachelor’s degrees from Williams in astrophysics and math and then went on to earn a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
Haddon-Vukasin, 33, who played with the men’s club hockey team at Stanford, has remained in California and works as research scientist for Bosch USA, focusing on the design of nano-biological sensors.
When she is not in the lab, Haddon-Vukasin is active in another form of hockey as she become a national level roller hockey player.
“Now I play a lot of roller hockey, I was just in Mexico playing for Team USA,” said Haddon-Vukasin, who lifts weights and does cardio to train for roller hockey and also competes in triathlons. “Last year it was Colombia. I started about four years ago. My husband finally convinced me to try it. He was a hockey player. You play a lot of tournaments. There is a lot of adults who play. There are a lot of club teams so you play on a club team and they scout at the tournament and select you.”
Getting selected for the PHS Hall of Fame means a lot to Haddon-Vukasin.
“I was speechless, I didn’t expect it,” said Haddon-Vukasin. “It is such an honor. I kind of can’t believe it. I am just incredibly grateful to Princeton High for the opportunities I got there. That is why my parents moved to Princeton. It is a great public school.”
There is no doubt that Haddon-Vukasin made the most of those opportunities.