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SPORTS & RECREATION
Marietta Daily Journal/SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013
Kennesaw State has three Cobb County players as captains for their inaugural team, including Kyra Fitzgerald from Sprayberry, left, Harrison’s Taylor Southerland, and far right, Sprayberry’s Arielle Schmidt. They are joined by KSU coach Kristina Llanes. Staff/Emily Barnes
KSU LEADING THE
WAY
Owls launch Georgia’s first women’s Division I lacrosse team By John Bednarowski sportseditor@mdjonline.com KENNESAW — With the explosion of high school lacrosse across the state of Georgia it was only a matter of time before it became a varsity sport at one of the state’s Division I universities. That time is now. The Kennesaw State women’s lacrosse team began its first season of NCAA competition earlier this month with a 22-3 loss to Vanderbilt, but that loss is not what anyone is going to remember. What began is a new tradition in the Deep South, and coach Kristina Llanes is ready for her Owls to take a lead role. “Everyone is really excited at the forefront,” said Llanes, who will get to introduce her team to the Kennesaw State fans for the first time on March 2 when the Owls host Coastal Carolina. “And everyone has been really excited (since the arrival of the program).” Llanes gets to build a Division I program from the ground up for the first time, although she is used to living through the rocky beginnings of start-up teams. As a player, Llanes was a member of the inaugural Pfeiffer University (N.C.) squad, and then as a coach, she helped launch programs at Division III SUNY Maritime College (N.Y.) and Division I Presbyterian College (S.C). However, beginning a program at Kennesaw State has been a completely
different experience. The Owls have presented her with a definite recruiting advantage in the newly named Fifth Third Bank Stadium, where they will play their games, and an untapped area of local recruiting talent. And she knows with the two she can make a lasting mark in NCAA lacrosse. “The high school programs are getting better and better,” Llanes said. “Fifty percent of our roster is from Cobb County. We’re still going to pursue athletes from Cobb County because athletically they are just as strong (as traditional players from the northeast). Three of those local players are the captains of the first team in school history. Midfielders Arielle Schmidt, a junior, along with freshman Kyra Fitzgerald are from Sprayberry High School and midfielder Taylor Southerland, a freshman from Harrison lead the team into its inaugural season with the hopes of creating a solid base from which the following teams can build on. “We get to make history,” Southerland said about this first team. “We have everything we need to succeed. “We’re paving the way for lacrosse in the South.” Southerland and Schmidt were part of KSU’s club level team last season, and while the game may have been played at a higher level than in high school, it has been nothing compared to the work they have put in to get ready for this season. “The pace of the game, the organiza-
tion, the level of commitment is so much higher,” Southerland said. “This is what we do.” There is also more at stake. “It’s exciting, but there is also a lot of pressure because we get to set a good standard so (future) players will want to come here,” Schmidt said. For Fitzgerald, as a freshman, she is anxious to build a tight team bond that will help the program grow. “It’s hard coming onto a team without team chemistry,” she said. “We have to build it and then we can raise the level of expectations.” While the players feel the expectations of getting the team off to a solid start, so does Llanes, who understands that while the area may not be a traditional one for the game, she understands the privilege she has of being the first women’s Division I coach in Georgia. “I’ve played in a non-traditional area in North Carolina,” she said. “But it’s really promising for someone like me and someone that loves the game. “We have the opportunity to play at the highest level. Everyday is an opportunity to improve our skill set and we want the competition to get here.” Editors note: Tickets for the first lacrosse game in Owls’ history can be purchased for $6 by calling (770) 4236957. Season tickets for the three-game home schedule can also be purchased for $12.
Women’s Lacrosse Schedule Feb. 10 at Vanderbilt Feb. 23 at Campbell Feb. 25 at Davidson Mar. 2 COASTAL CAROLINA Mar. 15 at Wintrhop Mar. 22 at Presbyterian Mar. 30 JACKSONVILLE Apr. 12 HOWARD Apr. 14 at Stetson Apr. 21 at Detroit Apr. 26 A-Sun Tourney Home games in all caps
KSU may also become home to Major League Lacrosse By John Bednarowski sportseditor@mdjonline.com KENNESAW — Lacrosse enthusiasts who would like to see a Major League Lacrosse team in the metro-Atlanta area now have their chance. MLL will host a regularseason game between the Boston Cannons and the Rochester Rattlers on June 7 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. The contest will be the first professional lacrosse game played in Georgia, and if there is a good crowd with positive feedback, MLL commissioner David Gross said the stadium would become home to a new franchise — possibly beginning play as early as 2014. “Usually, we like to give a team 18 months to prepare to allow it to get its marketing started,” Gross said. “But by playing this game in June, the marketing here is already started. If it goes well, we would not have any problem announcing an expansion team for 2014.” Gross said a “great sign” heading toward expansion would be for the June 7 game, which is being put on by MLL in conjunction with LB3 Lacrosse and the Atlanta Sports Council, to draw 5,000 or more fans. But Gross also said the big thing isn’t so much the attendance as how much do
Staff / Laura Moon
Major League Lacrosse commissioner David Gross, far right, will likely put an expansion team in Fifth Third Bank Stadium for 2014 if their June 7 contest between the Boston Cannons and the Rochester Rattlers is a success. Joining Gross are, from left, Kennesaw State Athletic Director Vaughn Williams, Atlanta Sports Council Executive Director Dan Corso, KSU Sports and Recreation Park Executive Director Marty Elliott and LB3 Lacrosse Founder and CEO Liam Banks. the fans enjoy the game. “If the reaction is ‘meh,’ which I don’t expect it to be, then we hold off,” Gross said. “But the sport is fastpaced, action-packed and there is plenty of hitting — everything a sports fan wants to see.” Tickets, set to go on sale March 1, and will range in cost from $15 to $50 and can be purchased online at www.mllatl.com. Gross has been open about wanting to expand MLL, which plays a 14-game schedule from April to August, to eventually reach as many as 16 teams by the end of the decade. He said Atlanta has been on the radar for expansion for a
long time, but they could never come up with a proper venue until Fifth Third Bank Stadium became available. “This is the venue we want,” he said. The 8,300-seat stadium is a perfectsized venue for MLL based on the attendance numbers of the current eight franchises — Boston, Charlotte, Chesapeake (Md.), Denver, Hamilton (Ontario), New York, Columbus (Ohio) and Rochester (N.Y.). In 2012, the league averaged 5,608 fans per game. Fifth Third Bank Stadium is also the home of the university’s inaugural women’s lacrosse program. Rochester will give up one of its
home games to come to Atlanta, and Rattlers vice president and assistant general manager Nathan Snyder said they are excited to come see KSU Stadium and the Atlanta-area fans first-hand. “Giving up a home game is a little tough,” Snyder said, “but we feel like Atlanta is a strong market, and if we want this league to keep growing, we have to bring the game to the emerging (lacrosse) markets.” The game will be the centerpiece of a week-long lacrosse showcase at KSU and north Georgia. It will start with a four-day individual and team camp being held by the Syracuse University men’s lacrosse program June 3 to 6 at Berry College just outside Rome. The attention will then move to KSU on June 7 for the beginning of LB3 Lacrosse’s three-day Summer Jam, a 150-team tournament that will be broken into age groups — from 11-and-under to high school college prospects. Marty Elliott, executive director and general manager of the KSU Sports and Recreation Park that includes KSU Stadium, said the tournament will utilize the complex’s seven fields, as well as the North Atlanta Soccer Association’s United Quest Park on Hawkins Store Road in northeast Cobb County. Liam Banks, founder and CEO of LB3, said the Summer Jam event will close Sunday with championship games at KSU Stadium, including a high school all-star game that will be seen by more than 50 coaches from the premier lacrosse programs around the country. Admission to the Summer Jam and high school all-star games will be free.