Maureen Onda’s four years of athletic accolades at Century High have been special to her, but she’s more excited about being able to wear a certain jersey number next year in college.

When Onda takes the field in 2008 with George Mason’s women’s lacrosse team, she’ll be No. 18 in honor of Gretchen Brandt, who wore that number at Century three springs ago.

Brandt, a three-sport athlete, died in a car accident Nov. 17, 2004, during basketball tryouts. Onda lost a teammate and her best friend in one nightmarish event. Onda has since set out to try and duplicate Brandt’s character, on and off the field.

She became captain in soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She led four teams to state championships, three in girls lacrosse. Twice she earned first-team all-county as a standout defender in lacrosse, and in basketball she captained the Knights for two years as a solid post player.

Onda excelled in the classroom, too, carrying a 3.85 grade-point average while participating in Century’s Student Government Association and becoming a three-year member of the National Honors Society.

Now she’s being tapped for another honor, the Times’ Herb Ruby Award winner as the top female senior scholar-athlete.

Onda indeed leaves Century as one of the school’s more decorated athletes, yet she’s focused on next year and donning that special jersey.

“It put everything into perspective for me,” Onda says about Brandt’s death. “Everything I do, I really try to be like her. She was such a great person, a great leader. She was going to be our [basketball] captain.

“I looked at her, because she was older than me, as that leader who I stuck by. Having someone like that, to follow in her footsteps, was huge.”

Brandt died just before the start of Onda’s sophomore basketball year. The season was pushed back, allowing time for teammates and coaches to grieve. Century retired Brandt’s basketball jersey (No. 20), and the Knights paid tribute by making sweatbands with her name and number.

Onda, who wears a rubber bracelet that bears Brandt’s name, recalls telling herself that Brandt would want her to become a leader right then, even as a sophomore, to help support the team.

She was a season away from being a captain herself, but Brandt’s death accelerated the maturation process, Onda says.

“I was captain of the basketball team my junior year, and I noticed the difference in how I was respected,” Onda says. “It was very important for me to be captain. When we were in practice, getting people back on track, that’s my job. Bringing the team together. That’s the captain’s job.”

Joel Beard, Century’s girls basketball coach since the school opened in 2001, has been coaching for more than a quarter-century. Beard has been through three decades of prep athletes with countless team leaders and captains, and he ranks Onda as one of the best he’s coached.

Beard says Onda helped shape a young Knights team into winners. They hardly looked inexperienced as they won their first outright county championship last winter. Impromptu team meetings. Discussions during practice. Whatever it took to unite, Beard says.

“She did a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” the coach says.

Onda enjoyed a state title as a freshman on the soccer team, her first-ever varsity sport. She went to four consecutive state finals in lacrosse with three crowns to her credit. She finished with 11 varsity letters and a handful of all-conference and all-county awards.

And Onda received another honor before graduating from Century — the Gretchen Brandt Character Award, given to the senior who best exhibits Brandt’s traits as a leader in sports and school.

Sara Figuly, who coached Onda in soccer and nominated her for the award, stated in a letter of recommendation that “it is not often you find a player who is as hard-working and genuine as Maureen.”

Onda got the character award on the eve of her graduation. But on the previous day, she heard from George Mason’s lacrosse coaches. They told her she’d be able to wear No. 18 next season, for Gretchen.

If Onda ever becomes a captain for the Patriots one day, she shouldn’t have any trouble handling the duties. She learned how to grow up after losing her best friend.
To read the rest of the article click here.