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Behind the scenes of a state tournament team
Thursday Long(er) drive - The Lady Dolphins, in part because of an air conditioning problem (it was broken for about 30 minutes), didn't arrive in Fort Lauderdale until 3:30 a.m. Thursday. Cheering an old friend - Some members of the Lady Dolphin soccer team got to cheer on a Pensacola Futbol Club teammate on Thursday afternoon. Rodgers and Amanda Green tried to cheer Niceville's Marleigh Howard to victory against Palm Harbor University, but the Lady Canes won the 5A semifinal match 1-0. Despite a 111-13-1 record in five years, it was the first trip to state for Michael Denton and his Lady Eagle squad.
Gulf Breeze Idol (down south) - Some of the team ate at Angelo's Corner, featuring a taste of Brooklyn in South Florida. While waiting for the meal, the players, led by Miles' wife Heather, belted out a rendition of Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive.' Apparently it was pretty good - the other patrons gave them a round of applause. Freshman Gone Wild - As the team waited for the bus to pick them up, senior Kristi Lee had an idea for the freshman. In a friendly form of hazing, the eight freshman had to get onto the stage at the amphitheater and perform a song for the rest of the team.
I'll take that - The Lady Dolphins had a surprise in store for them when they returned to their hotel Friday. Before leaving the bus, the coaches confiscated all cell phones from the players and ordered them to have lights out within 30 minutes. They got the phones back after their 8:30 a.m. workout on Friday. Friday Waxing poetic - Before both the semifinal match, Gross, mother of freshman Haley Gross, read a poem she wrote to the team before they boarded the bus to Lockhart Stadium. Been there, done that - The youngest of the four Gross children is the third sibling in her family to play in a state tournament. Older sister Kiel played on three state tournament teams (2001-03), while Rhett played on the Dolphins' 2003 state tournament team. The Gross' aren't the only mutli-state participant family. Kim Begley's mother Carrie played on Ronnie Bond's first state tournament basketball team at Washington in the mid 70s, while Aubrey Curington's father Keith competed in a state track meet at GBHS in the mid 80s.
Strong streak snapped - The Cypress Lake goal snapped a consecutive minute scoreless streak for the Lady Dolphins at 487. The last goal Gulf Breeze had allowed was in the final minutes of their 3-1 regular season finale win. We'll get this one - When asked if they'd have their phones taken away Friday night, Miles said his seniors told him they'd take care of it.
Broken, schmoken - Diane Curington, Aubrey Curington's grandmother, wasn't about to miss Saturday's championship game. Not even a broken arm was going to stop her. Diane broke her arm Friday morning at her house. Husband Wade took her to the hospital about an hour before the semifinal match. "It wasn't 'can I go to the game?' It was 'I'm going to the game,'" Wade said. They then drove to Orlando, stopped for a couple of hours of sleep and drove the rest of the way and were in attendance for Saturday's title game. Sunday Busch Gardens, Part II - After coach Eric Miles' 2003 team lost in the state semifinals, the team spent most of the next day at Busch Gardens.
I'll have a sub and...a sibling? The Lady Dolphins stopped in Quincy, a few miles west of Tallahassee for dinner. While at Subway, a pair of Lady Dolphins got a pleasant surprise. Juston Takacs, brother of freshman Bianca Takacs, and Amanda Schermerhorn, sister of junior Ashley Schermerhorn, dropped by. The older siblings are both students at Florida State.
Break? What break? Less than 48 hours after getting back into Gulf Breeze, Curington was on the field with the Lady Dolphin softball team helping the Lady Dolphins to a 13-3, five-inning win over PHS. Curington went 0-for-3 with an RBI in the win.
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