On Oct. 11 Norwich University was informed of the passing of a friend, fellow student and teammate.
Mackenzie “Mac” Pratt Mackenzie, 21, was a nursing major and Freeman Foundation Scholarship recipient from Hyde Park, Vt. She played on the Norwich varsity softball team.
Mac, as everyone called her, began battling cancer in her junior year of high school at Lamoille Union High School. During her 2005-2006 school year she found a lump near her collarbone. When medically tested, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to an article in the Burlington Free Press.
Throughout high school, Mac was a three-sport stand-out athlete. She was the goalkeeper for the girls soccer team, a starter for the girls basketball team and a stand-out pitcher for the softball team.
The Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association voted Pratt the 2006-07 Vermont Athlete of the Year for females.
Mac received treatment for her diagnosis, and was able to play softball that year. However in January of her senior year, doctors found more tumors in her chest.
Mac came to Norwich in the fall of 2007 in pursuit of a nursing degree. While at Norwich she pitched three season for the Cadets on the softball team.
Chris Bean, a recent Norwich graduate who managed the softball team for the Cadets, said, “Mac Pratt was an amazing woman.”
Bean was at a loss for words at first when beginning to describe the kind of person Mackenzie was. “She was far more amazing than people knew,” Bean said.
Something that is always mentioned when talking about Mackenzie was her smile. “Mac always had a smile on her face, which put a smile on everyone’s face,” Bean said.
Most recently Mac was battling her third bout with cancer.