Since her freshman year of high school, Grant High School junior Kate Ratenaproeksa has known she wanted to go to college at Northwestern University. On Sept. 3, 2023, only days into her junior year, Ratenaproeksa committed to play Division I lacrosse there.

On Friday, March 17, 2023, Ratenaproeksa’s interview with former Northwestern women’s lacrosse player Lauren Gilbert was published in USA Lacrosse Magazine. Gilbert grew up in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and was the first female lacrosse player from the state to commit to Northwestern. Around six months after the interview, Ratenaproeksa announced her commitment to Northwestern. As the second Oregonian ever to play for Northwestern’s lacrosse team, Ratenaproeksa looks to have a shining career in front of her.

In 2023, Northwestern won the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) women’s lacrosse championship. This is Northwestern’s eighth-ever NCAA win, making the program the second-most successful team in NCAA Division I. As of Jan. 3, 2024, Northwestern women’s lacrosse holds first place in USA Lacrosse’s preseason rankings. 

Around 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2023, the first day that college coaches are able to contact players in the class of 2025, Ratenaproeksa’s phone buzzed. The following morning, she checked her phone to find a video from Kelly Amonte Hiller, the head coach of Northwestern’s women’s lacrosse team, who explained that the Northwestern coaches were interested in speaking on the phone with her about recruiting. When Ratenaproeksa’s father saw the video, he was moved to tears. 

Ratenaproeksa got ready and attended school as if it were a normal day; she didn’t tell anyone about the text she had received that morning. About two days later, on Sept. 3, she had a phone call with Hiller to settle the details of her commitment. During the phone call, they mentioned to Ratenaproeksa that she was their only call of that day. When she announced her commitment through an Instagram post on Sept. 5, she was the first 2025 recruit to commit to Northwestern. 

Considering lacrosse’s lack of popularity on the West Coast, opportunities to get younger kids involved in the sport are difficult to come by. Ratenaproeksa began playing lacrosse in second grade, with Eastside Portland Lacrosse (EPL). Ratenaproeksa’s friend convinced her to start playing simply because she thought that wearing a mouth guard would be cool. 

While still in her earlier years, playing lacrosse was just one of Ratenaproeksa’s many extracurricular activities. She started playing soccer when she was only five; until the spring of her sophomore year, she played club soccer at a very competitive level. 

By fourth grade, Ratenaproeksa was already juggling three sports. In addition to playing soccer year round, she played lacrosse in the spring and recreational basketball in the winter. Ratenaproeksa’s first recreational basketball team was called “Lil Hoopers;” in middle school, she played on Grant’s ​​Portland Interscholastic League basketball team. Her freshman year of high school,  she tried out for Grant’s basketball team and made junior varsity two. Only two weeks into the season, she was quickly swung up to the varsity team. She stayed with the team through her sophomore season but did not return her junior year. 

For a long time, soccer was Ratenaproeksa’s main priority, practicing three nights a week with a club team, United PDX. Club soccer was some of Ratenaproeksa’s first exposure to competing at a high level. Because her team was constantly traveling to play and win tournaments they were all very close. Ratenaproeksa is still good friends with many players on that team today and she cherishes all the memories they have made.  

Even as soccer consumed a large part of Ratenaproeksa time, she made vast improvements on the lacrosse field. In middle school, she left EPL’s introductory environment for a more advanced club team called Lacrosse Northwest Rippers. 

Many of Ratenaproeksa’s first club memories were from her time playing with Rippers, which she reflects on happily. She distinctly remembers going to Palm Springs, California, to compete in the Sand Storm Lacrosse Festival with her Rippers teammates. Although Rippers was a higher level than her previous team on EPL, Ratenaproeksa was still yearning for a greater challenge. 

Starting her freshman year, Ratenaproeksa joined a brand new team called Oregon Pride 2025, which provided her with the elevated level of athletic difficulty that she’d been looking for. Most players on Ratenaproeksa team, though only in eighth grade, knew they wanted to play at the collegiate level. Her coach, J. B. Handley was committed to helping his players achieve their collegiate goals. 

It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that Ratenaproeksa’s crazy triple-sport juggle halted. Sooner than regulations allowed, her lacrosse team resumed their practice. After having some rocky experiences with coaching in soccer and positive experiences with Oregon Pride’s coaching environment, Ratenaproeksa embraced her lacrosse career.  

Ratenaproeksa had known from a young age that she was very interested in being a college athlete. After joining Oregon Pride, she was set on playing college lacrosse. For Ratenaproeksa, the recruiting process started in eighth grade. Since she was only 14 years old, she has held an account on a popular lacrosse recruiting website, Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Recruits. The summer of her freshman year, she started using the account extensively and attending prospect camps, which are an opportunity for players to showcase their skills in front of college coaches. Her coach and club provided her with a strong support base in the world of recruiting. Her current club team, Oregon Pride 2025, is ranked 27th in the country for 2025 teams (teams of players in the class of 2025) according to U.S. Club Lacrosse. Playing for such a well-ranked team helped to get her recruited. 

In the summer of 2022, when Ratenaproeksa had just completed her freshman year, she attended a prospect lacrosse camp hosted by Northwestern. From that moment on, she knew the university was the perfect place for her.

The next summer, Ratenaproeksa attended the same Northwestern prospect camp. During the camp, the coaches expressed their interest in her, approaching her and speaking to her throughout the camp’s two days. After committing to Northwestern, she returned this past winter for yet another camp, which allowed her to further explore the facilities where she will spend her college years and meet some of the other committed players from her class. 

High school lacrosse is no different for Ratenaproeksa. Since her freshman year, she has been a first team all league and second team all state athlete. She is a top player on the Grant women’s lacrosse team and is essential to the team’s attack. Last season, she scored 74 goals with a shot percentage of 74.7%. She also won 150 draws, making her one of top draw specialists in the entire state. 

Though lacrosse is Ratenaproeksa’s main sport, it is not the only sport she exceeds in. She has been a starter on the Grant Women’s Varsity Soccer team since her freshman year and aided the team in two state titles. As a freshman, Ratenaproeksa scored a goal in the 2021 state title game. In the 2023 state final game, Ratenaproeksa scored twice, one of them being the game-winning goal in overtime that earned her the title of Grant’s Most Valuable Player. 

As Ratenaproeksa heads into her penultimate season of Grant lacrosse, she is excited. After the Grant program made history by reaching the semifinals for the first time last year, Ratenaproeksa looks to bring that same energy into this year. 

Despite having a year and half more of high school, Ratenaproeksa is ecstatic about her commitment, laughing and admitting that she too is stunned. She continues to say that it almost doesn’t feel real to her and that she couldn’t be happier. Ratenaproeksa’s commitment further proves that she is one of the most talented athletes that have attended Grant.