Citrus: One if by land and two if by sea

One if by land and two if by sea

Citrus' Lauren Gaffney will attempt to compete in two state meets Saturday.

By CAREY FREEMAN

INVERNESS -- At approximately 8 a.m. Saturday, Lauren Gaffney will take her place on the starting line at the Class 2A state cross country meet. One of the better runners in her class, the Citrus senior will be favored to finish somewhere in the top 10.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Gaffney will finish the 3-mile course at Brevard Community College-Titusville and hop in a car, where she will spend the next hour in a race against the clock.

Her destination? The Orlando YMCA and the Class A state swim meet. Her goal? Make it before 9:30 a.m., the starting time for the first of two events she is scheduled to participate in. If she makes it on time, Gaffney will make history, becoming the first Citrus High athlete to compete in two state championship events on the same day. "There's no way I could choose between them," she said. "I want to give both of them everything. There isn't another meet, so I'm going to give it everything I've got.

"My goals are always really high, and I'm really more focused on places. I really want to go top 10 (in cross country), but I'd rather make the top five. Then in swimming, I'm probably going to have to scratch out of the 200 freestyle, but I want to make, at a minimum, the top 16 for breaststroke."

Citrus has made special arrangements for its two-sport standout. They have a driver. They have a car. And they have a mission.

"(Coach Bob Goddard) is going to drive, and the second she's done running, we'll sweep her into car and take off for Orlando," said Citrus athletic director Vicki Overman, the brains behind the operation. "I just hope we make it."

Overman isn't the only one. From her teammates on the swimming and cross country teams to her coaches to just about every student and teacher at Citrus, Gaffney will have plenty of folks rooting her on. "I think it's unique that an athlete can make the state level in two sports," Citrus swimming coach Frank Bachteler said. "I'm rooting for her to be able to do it.

"I've enjoyed watching her mature and develop. She's very well focused. She's set some nice goals for herself and is hitting them. And Lauren has just been a pleasant person to be around."

No matter what happens, her accomplishments are something to marvel at. Gaffney, who also has a 4.0 grade point average and plans to attend prestigious Wellesley College in Boston, is more than a simple competitor. She has become a force in both sports, winning a district title in cross country two weeks ago then a district title in her swimming specialty, the 100 breaststroke.

"I've never known of this kind of situation before," said cross country coach Bob Goddard, who has been at Citrus for the past 26 years. "Up until a few years ago, we didn't allow students to overlap sports. It was inevitable that you would get pulled in two directions and eventually end up cheating one of them.

"But the swimming coaches and us have gone out of our way to work with each other. I know of one or two other girls who might have been able to pull this off. But I don't know of any that could pull this off and still maintain a 4.0 average in an honors curriculum. She's a special girl, no doubt about it."

The time crunch is due, in large part, to Florida High School Activities Association rules that mandate swimmers must be available to swim in every event they qualified for or be disqualified for the entire meet.

In this case, Gaffney must make the 9:35 cutoff time for the 200 freestyle (second at district) in order to swim the 100 breast.

The rule is clear and, to some, unfair. Yet in what seems like a testament to her maturity, Gaffney said she fully understands the reason for the rule.

"I think it's a legitimate rule because it makes swimmers pay attention to the meet," Gaffney said. "If you miss an event, there's someone in another district that could have swam. So yes, I think that's fair.

"Does it bother me? Yes. I have a special situation. But rules aren't made for one person."