Flame on the Hot Seat: Anna Lanter
Photo courtesy of Anna Lanter
This week’s Flame on the Hot Seat is senior soccer star, Anna Lanter. As a business management major from Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, Lanter joined the Flames in 2017 to play alongside her sister, Summer, in her final collegiate season.
As a defensive player for the team, Lanter helped lead the Lady Flames to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA tournament in 2018. Lanter also plays club soccer for the Chattanooga Red Wolves.
How did you get into soccer?
“I am the youngest of four, so I have three older sisters. My oldest sister started playing when she was pretty young. She was good at it, so we all just followed suit [because] it was easiest for us to go to the same practices. I fell into it because my sisters played it.”
What brought you to Lee?
“Two of my sisters went to Lee. One when [the soccer team] was still NAIA, and one was in the transition to [NCAA Division Two]. I had followed my sisters my entire life, and I was dead set that this was the one area I wasn’t going to follow them to, but then my sister redshirted, so I decided that I would give it a shot. So, I committed knowing I would get to play one year with her, and I found that this is where God called me to be.”
What is your favorite memory from college soccer?
“Probably my freshman year when we made it to the 32 round of the national tournament. We played Nova Southeastern. We got down early in the first half and came back with a minute left. My sister scored the goal. It was one of those emotional moments because I was taken off the field and was just watching my sister’s last collegiate game, and she ended up scoring the tying goal.”
If you could give freshman Anna one piece of advice, what would it be?
“It would be to not wish away practices. I feel like growing up, you’re thinking, ‘all I have to do is get through this practice, and then there’s a game.’ Now that I am a senior, I just want more practice and want to stay here forever.”
What is the best/worst part of being a soccer player?
Photo courtesy of Lee Athletic Communications
“Best part would definitely be the girls. It’s such a great community, and I genuinely feel so loved and cared for on this team, which is incredible because that is hard to come by with any sports team or any girls sports team specifically. To feel that much love is unheard of for me. The worst part is definitely running.”
If you could only eat one food item for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
“It’s kind of one food item but chips and salsa. I am obsessed with it and always have been since I was three and could really eat hard foods. Any time I have had a bad day, I eat chips and salsa.”
What is your favorite class you have taken at Lee?
“It was probably Marketing, but it was just because I love Professor Holly Sullivan so much. I think so highly of her, and if I could have her as a mentor, I would because she’s so great. The subject was pretty entertaining, but she made it so great and engaged everyone.”
Where is your favorite spot to study on campus?
“If you go into the library, on the bottom floor, there is a little purple room that has whiteboards around it. If you can get that spot, it’s best because not many people look back there. You’re pretty isolated, but you are also still in the library, so you feel productive.”
If you could switch bodies with anyone in the world for a day, who would you switch with and why?
“I’m going to say, Simone Biles. I think she is such a fierce and strong woman, and after I watched her documentary, I admired her so much because of the choices she had to make to get where she was. I would definitely be her.”
Where do you see yourself in five years?
“I honestly see myself trying to climb the corporate ladder, which is hard to say because in five years, I might still be in an entry-level position. My biggest aspiration is to keep climbing because I want to be in a leadership role, so I can impact people that I don’t typically get to impact. I feel like people in business have a corrupt way of thinking about business, and I would love to bring in a Christian perspective of being ethical in the sense of making a profit as Chick-fil-a does.
