Ruby Montanez has excelled as a varsity athlete for all seasons for Greenwich Academy and has relished her role as a team leader for several seasons.

A senior, Montanez has flourished on the athletic fields and gymnasium as a varsity athlete for GA since her freshman season. She made the Gators’ varsity soccer team as a freshman in the fall of 2021 and has played on the varsity squad in soccer, basketball and lacrosse since she was a ninth grader, not typical feats for the majority of high school athletes.

“My freshman year I was so proud of myself,” Montanez said. “When I got to high school, making my third varsity team was so exciting. I put in so much effort and hard work. When I made it as a freshman in three sports, it was a super exciting experience.”

Besides being a standout athlete in lacrosse, soccer and basketball, Montanez carved a niche as one of the leaders on each squad she has been a part of – leading by example and vocally. She spent her junior and senior seasons as a captain of GA’s varsity basketball team, has served as captain of the Varsity A lacrosse team this spring and showed her leadership qualities on the school’s varsity soccer squad this past fall.

“I loved playing all three sports equally and I’ve loved being a captain,” said Montanez, who has used her speed, aggression, experience and overall athleticism to succeed in each varsity sport at GA. “Once you take on the responsibility to be one of the leaders of the team, you know it’s a very important role. Being a captain has taught me a lot each season.”

“As an underclassman, you can be a little scared,” she continued. “You know you have this athletic talent but may not know how to use it. When you’re a captain, you learn to teach those girls how to have confidence in themselves. I was so lucky they chose me to be a captain in each sport I’ve played.”

Indeed, Montanez watched and learned from the Greenwich Academy captains that provided valuable examples in previous seasons.

“We had awesome captains,” she recalled. “Last year, I became close to my captains. It was really helpful to find that confidence in yourself when they are your friends as well. They showed the team that they were not playing for themselves but playing for the team and I learned a lot from them.”

Currently Montanez is in the midst of another highly successful Varsity A lacrosse season with her Greenwich Academy teammates. Going into their game against Hotchkiss School on May 10, GA’s Varsity A team, coached by Tee Ladouceur, sports a sparkling record of 9-3.

During her freshman and sophomore seasons on the Gators’ Varsity A squad, Montanez was mostly a defender. Last season and this spring, she has been active all over the field, as her role shifted to being more of a midfielder.

“Our previous coach (Halley Quillinan Griggs) was like, “you can run I am putting you in the midfield,” Ruby noted. “My freshman and sophomore year I was strictly on defense. I never really thought I didn’t have the stamina to play in the midfield. It’s more about the shooting and thinking it through on offense.”

After hosting Hotchkiss School, Greenwich Academy’s lacrosse team will compete in the FAA Lacrosse Tournament, which starts on May 13. The defending FAA Tournament champion Gators enter the league tourney as the No. 1 seed.

“I am going to miss this team so much, this school and for playing for GA,” Montanez said. “This year, we have been super successful and we have improved so as much as a team.”

Ruby appreciates the spring she has spent playing for Ladouceur, who previously coached at Dartmouth College.

“Tee is super competitive and she also holds us accountable,” she said. “She really puts emphasis on creating an amazing player out of each of the girls.”

When the lacrosse season concludes and Montanez soon graduates from Greenwich Academy, it won’t mark the end of her athletic career. She’ll begin the next chapter of her lacrosse career at the University of California, Davis, in the fall.

After visiting the University of California, Davis in Davis, Calif., Montanez knew it was where she wanted to be the next four years, while playing Division I lacrosse.

“The environment out there is a huge reason why I picked it,” Montanez said of her college choice. “I love the coaching staff and the girls are so supportive. You can tell how much they love the game. The level of lacrosse is so much fun to watch, it’s great. It’s awesome out there and tremendous their coach – (Suzanne Isidor) is a class act and she’s been so successful.”

Ruby has also showcased her lacrosse skills at the international level. In the summer of 2024, Montanez competed in the 2024 Women’s U20 Lacrosse Championship as a member of Puerto Rico U20 National Team. The 2024 Women’s U20 Lacrosse Championship was held in Hong Kong, China.

“It was awesome, I had the best time over there,” Montanez noted. “Playing at that level was amazing. When we played Team USA, no country is even close to playing with them and beating them, it was an awesome experience. Playing against the best players in the entire world was so fulfilling.”

Soon, Montanez will join the Puerto Rico Women’s National Team at the Women’s Lacrosse Pan American Lacrosse Championships Qualifying. The Women’s Lacrosse Pan American Championships will take place June 26-30 at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Fla. The event is a qualifying tournament for the World Lacrosse Women’s Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Japan in 2026.

As an athlete on the Puerto Rico Women’s National Team, Montanez is teammates with lacrosse players of all ages, not just competitors under 20 years old. Being a part of the National Team is a precursor to trying out and making the Olympic Team.

Over the course of her athletic career at Greenwich Academy, Montanez has thoroughly enjoyed being an athlete for each season.

“It feels amazing even though all three sports have nothing in common,” she said. “I was so sad when I stopped playing soccer and stopped playing basketball. Playing three sports taught me how to be an athlete and how to work hard.”

Ruby’s parents, Dana and Johnny Montanez, inspired her to compete in sports as a youngster.

“The only thing they consistently told me was to try my best at everything I did,” Ruby said. “They didn’t want me to wimp out. I think that it really has inspired me to become that person and be the person on the field on and off the field – to give everything 100 percent of the time.”

Soccer was the first sport Montanez started playing competitively, as she picked up the sport as a four or five-year old. When she entered seventh grade, Ruby picked up a lacrosse stick and started competing in the GYL in Greenwich.

“I was giving my mom a little fight, I was like, “I don’t want to play this sport,” Ruby recalled. “After my first game, though, I loved it so much. I liked the energy the GYL had.”

For two years, Montanez played for the Connecticut Grizzlies, a summer lacrosse program owned and directed by Darien High School legendary varsity lacrosse coach Lisa Lindley.

“Lisa after seeing Ruby play the first time told us, she is going to have options and commended her on being the toughest kid out there out there every time,” Ruby’s father Johnny Montanez said. “She constantly gets the most out of her abilities and Lisa loved her for that.”

Said Ruby’s mother, Dana Montanez, an educator at Brunswick School: “We are so proud of Ruby. She is a really hard worker when she is on the field and when she is fulfilling her responsibilities at school. She is also very empathic and kind to other people. She is not one to bring someone else down to raise herself up. Georgia, our youngest, called Ruby a quiet sparkle and that pretty much sums it up.”

Indeed, the Montanez’s notice Ruby’s effort on the athletic scene and in the classroom.

“Dana and I love the fact that Ruby is respected,” said Johnny Montanez, who coached the varsity baseball team at Brunswick School for numerous years. “For us, we feel that we’re lucky to have a kid who constantly strives to achieve her best. When we catch each other’s eye on the field to see how bad she wants it and how hard she competes it’s special.”

Ruby, 19, has attended Greenwich Academy since she was a preschooler. She has a brother Jayden, 16, who attends Brunswick School and plays varsity baseball team and a sister, Georgia, 14. Ruby’s favorite subjects are English and Art History.

“I’ve spent 14 years at Greenwich Academy,” Montanez noted. “I love the environment at the school, it’s all I’ve ever known. It’s bittersweet to be leaving soon, but I don’t regret anything.”