CU’s Kathleen Ash to represent USA Hockey at World University Games

Every two years, athletes from around the world convene on one location to represent their respective countries in various forms of competition — whether it be in summer or winter games — to determine the top athletes in the world. The stately spectacle is commonly referred to as the Olympic Games.

For those competing in college athletics, there exists the World University Games, the Division I’s equivalent of the Olympics. And much like its grander-scaled, internationally-competitive counterpart, the University Games also holds both summer and winter variations of competition.

This year, in what is the 29th running of the winter World University Games, or “Universiade” — a play on the words “university” and “olympiad” — Team USA’s women’s hockey team will descend upon Krasnoyarsk, Russia for two weeks of international competition. And for the second time in as many Games, University of Colorado senior Kathleen Ash will be proudly wearing the red, white and blue jersey.

“I think it’s the most humbling honor and not very many people get to do this,” said Ash. “There’s literally no [better] feeling of putting on the Team USA jersey.”

Whether it be a Division I college athlete or a bonafide superstar, to make it to the Olympics — or something like the World University Games — is an impressive achievement and a true testament to those at the top of their game.

While many dream of representing their country in these international games, the reality is very few are able to reach those assiduous aspirations.

To say earning a spot on a Team USA roster is a rare achievement would be a bit of an understatement.

As far as the World University Games are concerned, Team USA chooses its players from both the NCAA’s Division I women’s programs and American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I teams.

Let’s do some quick math. In total, between the two DI conglomerates, there’s over 900 NCAA female hockey players and over 500 ACHA players, totaling somewhere in realm of roughly 1,400 total DI women’s hockey players — give or take — available for the committee’s choosing.

Team USA’s final roster is only comprised of 22 players. Divide that number by the total number of players available for the choosing and you get a fraction of a percent. That makes Ash and the other 21 athletes quite literally among college hockey’s top-one percent.

As shown by the arithmetic above, it’s very unlikely a player makes it on the team. Even fewer are able to do it twice.

For Ash, it was a dream come true in 2017 when she was chosen to join Team USA in Kazakhstan for the University Games. Now in 2019, Ash will once again travel to represent the United States in the 2019 Games in Russia.

“I’m just so excited and so incredibly thankful to be able to do this again,” she said.

She is one of only four returning members from Team USA’s 2017 Games squad, joining Adrian College’s Britt Levasseur and Michigan State standouts Maddie Wolsmann and Kelsey Jaeckle for this year’s competition in Russia. Ash will be led by the same head coach, Shelley Looney, who also coached the team back in 2017.

During her sophomore season, Ash helped Team USA to a bronze medal in Kazakhstan. She appeared in all four games for the Americans, scoring one goal and recording a team-high 20 shots on goal during the tournament.

The latter stat reveals the type of player Ash is. She loves scoring goals, and to do that, it’s a imperative to shoot the puck. After all, in the words of hockey’s objectively greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” That seems to be the philosophy for Ash, and that’s been clear throughout her senior season this year.

Not only was Ash among the best of the Buffs this season, in terms of goals and points, she was among the top of the entire ACHA. Ash finished the season with 31 goals, second only to her teammate, senior Leah MacArthur, who was the No. 1 scorer on both CU’s roster and in the ACHA. In total, Ash amassed 109 goals in her four-year career at Colorado. She’ll leaving the program with an impressive 157 points in just 94 games.

Playing hockey at the University of Colorado for the past four years has been an unforgettable experience for the Lakewood native.

“I think I’ve worked so hard for two years and prior to that had worked so hard,” she said. “Coming from playing at a Division I program, that was my whole dream. Obviously we all want to put on a USA jersey and play at the Olympics, but I think this is just as good”

Representing Team USA is icing on the cake of what’s been a pretty prolific collegiate career. It’s a testament to the hard work she’s put in over her time here at Boulder.

“It leaves me speechless because it’s just such an honor to represent your country and to do it [internationally],” she said.

This time around, Ash joins a Team USA club that is very upperclassmen-heavy. Ash is one of six seniors and 15 total upperclassmen on a team that boasts only seven freshman and/or sophomores. While this year’s team is a more experienced group, it is Ash who holds the claim of being the team’s oldest player.

When asked if because of her status as senior member on the team if she’d take on the role of being the leader of this group of girls, she said she’d rather have her actions do all the talking.

“I’ve always been a believer in leading by example,” said Ash. “I think that you can be a leader without having a letter…I think that you can lead by example on and off the ice. Everyone is working hard at this level, so I think you just have to find the next push. Push your teammates, be a good teammate and hopefully get a medal.”

On the note of teammates, Ash said she’s very much looking forward to getting to Russia with the rest of the girls and forging a bond that will last forever. It will certainly be an experience that won’t soon be forgotten.

“I think being with a new team, a fresh group of girls, I think it’ll be so fun,” Ash said. “Last [Games], I said leaving that this was the best team I’ve ever been a part of…We just become so close so quickly, and I’m obviously going to be friends with these girls for the rest of my life. I’m really looking forward to that and experiencing another culture; and obviously I’m there to do business, so [I’m] putting on that jersey and going to work.”

Ash and the rest of the U.S. representatives will have their work cut out for them this year, especially playing in Krasnoyarsk, where the hosting Team Russia has earned a medal in hockey in each of the past three Games. The Russian women have taken home the gold medal in each of the last two Games.

Team USA has never placed better than third and will look to improve its podium placement this year, after taking home the bronze back in 2017.

“I definitely want to bring home [another] medal,” said Ash. “That was one of the best experiences of my life. This is my last opportunity to do that. [We need to] work our butts off to get it done; and if we can do better than we did last time, that’d be awesome.”

Ash and Team USA kick off the Games against Japan from Krasnoyarsk on March 1 at 12:30 p.m. Krasnoyarsk Time (KRAT). If you’re tuning in from Colorado, the game begins at 10:30 p.m. MST on Thursday, Feb. 28 due to the 14 hour time difference.

Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Scott MacDonald at scma0899@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @ScottTopics