A lack of senior leadership has Gulf placing its hopes of a fifth SAC title on junior Danielle Florey.
By JAMAL THALJI
Published September 16, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - Gulf coach Dean Lofton has a secret plan to win a fifth straight Sunshine Athletic Conference championship.
"Cooperation from the other teams," he said.
Cooperation in what?
"To let us be better than them." Okay then.
Anyway, here's the backup plan: Danielle Florey.
The common thread running through all of the Bucs' titles is leadership. Whether it was Barbara Carr during her four-year run as SAC champion, or all-SAC selection Melissa Dattoli last year leading her teammates to a fourth title, the Bucs have relied on someone to lead the way.
Someone to keep practices intense. To pass out wisdom and advice. To rally the troops. And to be first at the finish line.
This year that all-important job falls onto a new set of shoulders. But a young set of shoulders.
Florey is just a junior.
Not that it's kept her from getting the job done.
"Danielle has really done a good job leading the team," Lofton said. "It's kind of starting to be what it was like with Melissa. She comes to them when they have questions. She keeps track of mileage, my keys and my wallet. At practice she does a good job."
But Florey has to. The team has only one senior.
"I don't know why that is," Lofton said. "It's unusual. We usually have two or three."
Maggie Giampavolo is the lone senior. Sophomore Nicole Berkey is the No. 2, and junior Cara Calafiore is back, too. Junior Renee Chauncy and freshmen Jessica Peck and Jayci Pulmeski lead the newcomers. Florey thinks the team has what it takes to win the county crown a fifth year.
"I think we have a pretty strong team to do it this year," he said. "They've got to get into racing mode. They'll have to pace themselves right. They'll have to know what to do in a race and what not to do."
Which is where Florey comes in. They need direction, and she's learning to provide it, just like Dattoli did.
"She did a lot, and I try to follow what she did," Florey said. "She helped me become better. No matter how she was feeling or how everyone was feeling, she was always there for her teammates."
But Florey can't provide just the intangibles. She has to lead the Bucs in the standings, too. She did last year, winning the region title with a time of 20 minutes, 34.34 seconds to lead Gulf to the runnerup trophy. She also was 30th at state.
"She has experience now," Lofton said. "She was a region champion from last year, and she really has a lot of desire and dedication. She's a runner.
"A lot of people that run cross country aren't really runners. A runner is someone who's going to get out there on the weekends and put the miles not because they're supposed to but because they want to. There's a lot of people in our county who will run at practices and meets and any other day they have off, they're off. She doesn't. She tries to encourage the others to keep running."
Florey does have some help in that department. Something that Carr and Dattoli left her. Something she helped earn herself. All those titles, and all that history.
"We told (the newcomers) all about our past, about all the things we've won," Florey said, "and we're all working hard for that now."
