Sarah McKnight Devens '96, one of the best female athletes ever to attend Dartmouth, died unexpectedly Monday of a gunshot wound at her Essex, Mass., home. She was 21.
A psychology major with a minor in Latin American studies and U.S. Hispanic literature, Devens was a three-year starter on the women's varsity field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse teams.
Devens was named a lacrosse All-American this spring and was recently selected to play in the Olympic festival, a national Olympic games in Denver. She was the 1995 co-winner of the Class of 1976 Award recognizing the top female athlete at the College.
Devens was an All-Ivy selection in the three sports. She helped the lacrosse and ice hockey teams to league championships and was elected a captain of all three teams for next year.
In an interview with The Dartmouth last summer, Devens said her life was "definitely stressful," and that she sometimes felt she was missing out on some things by playing in three Division I sports.
"It's very intense. It's very structured. There's not much time to hang out," she said. But, "I don't know if I would be happy [if I quit a team.] ... I feel like a part of every team. It would be sort of hard to quit now. Part of me wishes I could take a break, but I want to be there, to keep playing."
Devens was known to her teammates as the "devil," women's ice hockey coach George Crowe told The Dartmouth last summer.
"She has so much energy. She is always on the go," Crowe said. "You literally can't tire her out. She's just a lot of fun to have on the team."
Women's lacrosse coach Amy Patton, who met Devens when she came for a recruiting visit, said Devens will be remembered by friends, professors and coaches as someone "who touched so many people's lives and impacted them in so many ways with her warm smile and upbeat personality."
Kathleen Hickey '96 was one of Devens' closest friends and played field hockey with her.
"She is the best person I ever knew," Hickey said Tuesday. "I can't imagine my life without her and that's what I have to do ... She would do anything for anyone in the world. I wish she would have given one-half of what she gave to everyone else to herself."
Devens graduated in 1992 from the St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. At St. Paul's, Devens starred in the three sports and captained the varsity teams her senior year. In her junior and senior years, she was named an All-American lacrosse player and the best female athlete at the school. She also won academic honors her sophomore year.
Devens is survived by her parents, Charles Devens Jr. of Essex, Mass., and Sally Willard of Ipswich, Mass.; her two brothers, Charles Devens III and Samuel W. Devens; her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Willard Jr. of Kiaweh Island, S.C., and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Devens of Milton, Mass.
An informal gathering of friends, followed by a candlelight procession, will be held tonight at 7:30 in Rollins Chapel.
The College flag will fly at half-mast today and again in the Fall term, when the College will hold a formal memorial service for Devens.
A memorial service will be held for Devens today at 11 a.m. in St. John's Church, 705 Hale Street, Beverly Farms, Mass. Memorial contributions may be made to Dartmouth College, St. Paul's School or the Shore Country Day School in Beverly, Mass.
