Hannah Hedstrom

Classroom

Hedstrom has had an incredibly successful academic career at a prestigious institution in Lehigh University’s College of Arts and Sciences. Lehigh is currently tied for 50th nationally in the U.S. News and World Report top national universities. As a biology major with a 3.97 cumulative GPA, Hedstrom graduated in three years at Lehigh and is currently using her final year of athletic eligibility to pursue a master’s degree in Healthcare Systems Engineering.

Hedstrom has had very prominent experience in her area of interest. In Summer 2018, she participated in the St. Luke’s Summer Health Externship program, where she dedicated 75 hours shadowing health professionals. Hedstrom also participated in Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Research Scholar Program in which she conducted and published research titled ‘Optimizing the Advanced Practice Clinician New Hire Onboarding Experience through Education’ that aimed to improve the new hire experience. She created educational materials providing a summary of the “top 10 diagnoses” that newly hired healthcare professionals will see in their respective department.

During the summer of 2019, Hedstrom was an intern at Coordinated Health in their Rotational Leadership Development Program, working in rotations through various corporate departments including Process Improvement, Marketing, IT, Finance and Strategy/Development.

She has been named Lehigh Women’s Basketball’s Scholar Athlete of the Year the last two seasons, was an Academic All-Patriot League selection in 2018 and 2019 and a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in 2019.

Character

Hedstrom has provided tremendous leadership on the team as a starter for the last three seasons. Her first year in 2017, she served as a student athlete mentor. For two years, she was a Student Athlete Council representative and was subsequently named a captain for the 2019 season. In addition to her captainship, Hedstrom has been actively involved in Lehigh’s Flight 45 program and legacies program which educates sophomore and junior student-athletes about how to lead by example, develop relationships with teammates and gain the credibility to lead their team vocally while actively supporting the efforts of current team captains.

Prior to her time at Lehigh, Hedstrom was a two-time team captain at Minnetonka (Minn.) and led her team to a state championship in 2016, earning a spot on the All-State Tournament team.

Community

Like so many of her teammates and other student-athletes at the university, Hedstrom has been a significant contributor to many efforts within the Lehigh community. She, along with the women’s basketball team, has routinely visited local Fountain Hill Elementary School to read to the students, teach a relevant lesson and participate in recess on the playground, as well as conduct clinics for the students.

The women’s basketball team also hosts an Education Day game at the beginning of the season every year where over 4,000 students from local elementary schools come to Stabler Arena to watch the game and learn specific lessons throughout the day. Hedstrom, along with her teammates, then signs autographs and talk with the kids at the end of the game.

In addition, Lehigh women’s basketball, along with every Lehigh Athletics team annually takes part in Adopt-A-Family. The Mountain Hawks provide a holiday for an under-privileged family during this event. Together with Lehigh fraternities, sororities and other departments, the event itself has raised up to $30,000.

Lastly, Hedstrom and her teammates have visited the St. Luke’s Pediatric Ward every year during the holidays to bring cheer to the patients and their families.

Competition

Hedstrom has enjoyed a stellar career on the court for the Mountain Hawks over her last three seasons, making an appearance on the floor in all 91 of Lehigh’s games including 90 starts at point guard.

She has totaled nearly 100 assists in each of her three seasons, leading the team in assists each year. Hedstrom reached the 300-assist milestone at the end of her junior season becoming just the ninth player in program history to join that club.

Hedstrom is an annual leader in both assists and steals, where she has tallied 135 in three years. She also has totaled at least 100 rebounds in each of her three seasons with 446 for her career.

One of the Patriot League’s best defensive players in 2018-19, she was named an All-Defensive Team selection by coaches and media at the conclusion of the campaign.