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York Catholic's Hannah Laslo's plate full on and off the basketball court


At 6-foot-1, York Catholic's Hannah Laslo is an imposing figure on the basketball court for the nine-time defending District 3 Class AA champions. But Laslo is so much more than that to the Fighting Irish.

She's also so much more than a basketball player.

On the court this season she surpassed 1,000 career points and has been a member of the District 3 AA all-tournament team in each of her first three years.

A leader by example, Laslo has been a team captain for two seasons, and heads into Friday's district playoff opener against Oley Valley third on the Irish with nearly 10 points per game this season.

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Her athletic success is not limited to basketball either. She's been a standout on the Irish girls' soccer team, using her size in the only position she's played on the pitch — goalkeeper.

Yet, despite that, Laslo might make an even bigger impression off the court, with outstanding academics and an endless string of activities.

She's a vice-president in the National Honor Society, a student council representative, a member of the varsity club, Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Be You organization, the homecoming and prom committees, plays cello in the String Club, and volunteers at York Hospital.

It begs the question: How does someone, especially a high school student, fit in all of these activities?

"I keep it all on my schedule, and my mom is amazing at organization. She helps so much. She is always on top of me, making sure I know what's going on," Laslo said.

"Often I will sacrifice sleep for homework. If I have a 5 o'clock practice, if I stay after school, I sit in the auditorium, the lobby or in the gym and do homework at school in between the meetings. If it's something I need to do on the computer I will stay up later so I can do that."

With a schedule that is going to have conflicts from time to time, Laslo knows even she can't do everything. She prioritizes what she needs to do and takes care of it.

Parents Christine and Stephen Laslo haven't had cause for concern. Somehow, Hannah always manages to keep up, no matter how much she puts on her plate.

"If I ever had seen there was a problem, I would have had her cut it back," Christine said. "She's always been on the honor roll and in honors classes. If she would have not been successful in the classroom I would've stopped her from some of those. But I didn't have to limit her because she was able to do it all.

"It was more difficult when she was in junior high and she played soccer and basketball. There were lots of times she was changing in the car going to another game. It got easier in high school when it's a different season."

And then there's music, another activity, another passion — and Hannah's really good at that, too.

Already skilled with several instruments, Hannah thought it would be fun to learn the ukulele and went on to become co-president of the York Catholic ukulele club.

"She had a natural music ability, we just had to find her the instrument. She started off in seventh and eighth grade winning district cello awards," Stephen Laslo said. "Her uncle gave her a guitar, she learned to play that in probably a couple of days. Then she begged us for a ukulele, and I went and got her one for her birthday."

"I thought it would be really funny for me, because I am such a big person, if I had a little teeny instrument that I would play," Hannah said. "I ended up just falling in love with it whenever I started playing so it just clicked.

"Music is the outlet to all the stress. It's very laid back, especially the ukulele, that's like a relaxed sort of thing. I am not competing against anyone, I don't have to worry if I am the best in the class. It's just go with the rhythm and have a good time."

Even York Catholic girls' coach Kevin Bankos shakes his head in amazement at Laslo.

"She is a special one," Bankos said. "The family is very special. They have everything in alignment of what's important and what's not important. How to be humble and do all of this at the same time. She's just a driven kid at everything she does. Probably the best part is that she is unique."

Still, such an overachiever could make things rough on a younger sibling. But for sister Emily, who is a junior on the Irish basketball team, that's not the case.

"I don't think I could do it, but she just works really hard and is so good at putting her mind to something and accomplishing what she wants," Emily said. "A lot of the stuff she does is pure joy. She likes music, she likes sports, that's why she does it.

"In school, she works extra hard ... It takes a lot to get to where she is. It's one thing to get there, it's another thing to get there with the attitude that she does have. It's easy to respect her, not just as my sister, but as a person, and a friend."