Suffolk dominates all-District team
Published 2:18 am Sunday, November 4, 2012
Lakeland High School dominated the field of votes as All-Southeastern District honors were announced this week for field hockey, and the Cavaliers had three All-Eastern Region team members, as well.
Junior back Kristen Vick won SED Player of the Year, first team all-region, and head coach Tara Worley was named Coach of the Year for both the region and district.
![DSCN1888](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2012/11/DSCN1888.jpg)
Junior back Kristen Vick won SED Player of the Year, first team all-region, and head coach Tara Worley was named Coach of the Year for both the region and district.
Nansemond River High School also garnered two first team all-district members and two regional honorable mentions.
Because of her position, Vick does not carry the gaudy statistics one might expect from a player of the year, but her role as a facilitator on the field was so powerful that the coaches of the 10 SED teams were compelled to recognize it.
“It’s amazing,” Vick said. “I was working hard for it this year, and my team’s really helped me to build me up to that level to get recognized.”
“Kristen is a big playmaker for us,” Worley said. “It’s been an accomplishment that she wanted, and so I knew that she’d been working hard for it.”
Vick had seven goals and eight assists this season.
Lakeland is so dominant in the district that eight of the 16 first team all-district members were Lady Cavaliers. This only adds to prestige of Vick’s accomplishment as Player of the Year.
“Our team is blessed with a lot of talent, so to be recognized from her peers as that person, I know she feels honored for that,” Worley said.
Worley also had reason to feel honored after claiming regional and district coach of the year honors, both of which she has held multiple times before.
“It’s humbling,” she said. “You put all this work in, you don’t do it for any awards or any accolades, but it’s nice to be recognized by your peers.”
In 14 years as Lakeland’s coach, she has a record of 228-45-3.
The Lady Cavaliers named first team all-district were Alexis Albright, Erin Bradshaw, Ashley Heuberger, Kelsey O’Leary, Summer Parker, Kasey Smith, last year’s Player of the Year, Jamee Albright, and Vick.
Vick, Jamee Albright, and Parker were named to the All-Eastern Region first team, and Alexis Albright, Heuberger, O’Leary, and Smith made the second team.
Several players posted especially remarkable statistics, including Parker with 38 goals and nine assists, Smith with 15 goals and 21 assists, Jamee Albright with 12 goals and 11 assists, and Bradshaw who, as goalkeeper, had 13 shutouts.
Jessie Cox, Kiersten King, and Megan Smith also represented the Lady Cavaliers as second team all-district selections. Morgan Fenton received honorable mention.
Lakeland has consistently dominated the district for more than a decade now. Worley made a special point of recognizing the district coaches for not letting that discourage them from continuing to vote for Lakeland players.
“They’re always very kind in those votes and giving my kids what they deserve, I think,” Worley said. “Some districts struggle with that, and we don’t in our district.”
For Nansemond River, senior midfielder Shelbi Holloman and senior back Taylor Flick were voted first team all-district, and both received honorable mention at the regional level. This is Holloman’s second consecutive year receiving these awards.
“I definitely think they’re deserving of each of those honors,” Lady Warriors head coach Ali Mowry said. “Both girls proved to be first-team players this year.”
Holloman had 10 goals and seven assists, and Flick, while primarily a defender, scored two goals as well.
“Shelbi led her team offensively, getting the goals scored,” Mowry said. “Taylor was a big contributor with our defense. (Defenders) don’t get all the glory with the goal-scoring, but they do their part in the back there.”
The Lady Warriors also had good representation on the all-district second team with Katelynn Hodgkiss, Madison Janek, and Sarah Langhorn. Honorable mention went to Lindsey Hunter and Jaclyn Mounie.
Kana Hashigami and Maiah Wright drew honorable mention for King’s Fork High School.