After taking break, Merchant relentless

Carol Merchant took a sabbatical from her sport, and that decision helped produce one of the greatest collegiate field hockey careers in NCAA Division III history.

Call it what you want: a moment to gather her thoughts, time to find herself, a welcome break. But what transpired after Merchant's five years away from field hockey demonstrated that she had not lost a single step.

By the time her college career ended, the former Watertown High School athlete was the all-time scoring leader in SUNY Cortland history and had led the Red Dragons to back-to-back national championships, in 1993 and 1994. She remains the college's top career scorer with 182 points, top goal scorer with 74, and leading single-season goal scorer with 29 in 1992.

Merchant quickly acquired a reputation as that rare field hockey athlete. In a sport where goals are hard to come by, Merchant would regularly score three or four goals in a single game. She used her intelligence to put herself in the right place at the right time, recording many of her goals off rebounds. She also excelled as a passer and is still fourth all-time at Cortland in career assists (34), second in single-season points (61 in 1992), and second in single-season assists (19 in 1993).

Merchant followed her older sisters, Allison and Julie, in the sport and was an all-star at Watertown, helping the Cyclones to a sectional title in 1985. She aimed to continue her career at Lock Haven University, but left the college shortly after her arrival. That's when she took leave from field hockey and focused on academics at North Country Community College.

By 1991, she was ready to reunite with the sport and enrolled at Division III power Cortland. By her sophomore season, she was setting records, toppling the season goal-scoring mark. More records followed, but more importantly, so did championships. Merchant played a key role.

She assisted on the winning goal in Cortland's 1-0 victory over Mary Washington for the NCAA title in 1993. The following year, Merchant scored both goals as Cortland defended its title in a 2-1 victory against Trenton State. She was named a Division III first-team All-American.

In 2006, Merchant was one of 11 players named to the 25th anniversary all-time NCAA Division III field hockey team.

The titles haven't stopped for Merchant. Now Carol Frank, she coached the Salem high school field hockey team last fall to its third straight New Hampshire state crown and its fourth in five years.