Kristen Kjellman

Kristen Kjellman was born on November 18, 1984. She was raised in Westwood, Massachusetts, and attended Westwood High School from 1999 to 2003. During her high school career, she was a four-year letter winner in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, captaining all three sports as a senior. Her basketball team went 92-4 during her tenure and won two Division 3 state titles. In lacrosse, she led the Westwood Wolverines to their first state title her senior year, scoring the game-winning goal in the final minute. She accumulated over 300 points in her high school lacrosse career, contributing to the Wolverines’ 76-8 record.

Kjellman attended Northwestern University, where she played Division I women’s lacrosse from 2004 to 2007. Recruited by head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller in 2003, Kjellman started all 18 games in her freshman year, earning the Inside Lacrosse National Rookie of the Year and Co-National Rookie of the Year awards. She was a pivotal player in Northwestern’s rise as a lacrosse powerhouse, leading the team to three consecutive NCAA national championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Her collegiate career included numerous accolades, such as winning the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2006 and 2007, making her the first athlete, male or female, to win the award in consecutive seasons. She was also a three-time Honda Sports Award winner for lacrosse in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and a three-time American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Player of the Year.

Kjellman concluded her collegiate career with Northwestern holding the all-time records for goals (250) and points (349), ranking sixth nationally in both categories at the time. She also set an NCAA record with 39 career goals in NCAA Championship play and an NCAA all-time record with 268 career draw controls. After graduating in 2007 with a degree in communication studies, Kjellman joined the U.S. National Elite team, making her first World Cup appearance in 2009. She contributed to the team’s gold medal victory at the 2009 World Championships in Prague and was named to the All-World team as a midfielder. She has continued to be involved in lacrosse, serving as an Assistant Varsity Lacrosse Coach at Phillips Exeter Academy and as VP, Content at WePlayed Sports, and became a 2024 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee.