f you’d asked any Lincoln lacrosse players four years ago if they could imagine standing in the center of the field, sweat dripping off their grinning faces as they hoisted up the district championship trophy, they would have laughed in your face.

For many, it was just a pipe dream.

"A lot of the ’09 senior players of the team were saying stuff like they were going to be so proud when the lacrosse team wins state x amount of years from now," former lacrosse player Greg Martinez said.

For others, it just seemed impossible based on the team’s record. Martinez’s first year on the team in 2008 was the season the team didn’t win a single game.

"When I first joined," third-year senior Joey Dennis said, "none of us had any real lacrosse experience, and we could barely pass and catch the ball."

For this year’s team, not winning was not an option.

Senior captains Robby Wheeler and Ben Gray were determined to lead their team to victory. "(We) talked about it at the very start of the season that our goal was to be the first Lincoln team to hold up that district championship trophy," Wheeler said.

The road to glory wasn’t easy, but taking the 2008 season to heart, the team focused on improving.

"We worked really hard in the off-season, and it paid off," Wheeler said.

But the words "hard work" don’t begin to describe the amount of time and effort put into the team this year. In addition to daily practices during the season, according to sophomore Brad Wheeler, lacrosse required around-the-clock dedication.

"Some of us, and the numbers are growing, practice year-round with the Florida Possums travel team," he said.

In Dennis’s eyes, the improvements gained by non-stop lacrosse from January to December has definitely changed the playing field. "We don’t have to worry so much about our stick skills," he said, "and that alone makes a huge difference on the field."

Gray attributes the shift from losing to winning to a single game: Lincoln versus Maclay on Feb. 25. Down 7-2 by halftime, it seemed impossible that the Trojans would ever be able to come back. But in the final moments of the game, the team scored six unanswered goals, three of them in under a minute, to beat Maclay 8-7.

"I think that was the start of us thinking we can actually win districts once we beat Maclay," Gray said. "That was just the beginning of everything."

Senior James Koerner thinks that a lot of the team’s success this season belongs to the dedication of volunteers working with the team.

One only has to look at Martinez to see proof of this. Though he graduated last year, Martinez attended nearly every varsity and JV game of the season as the "Boosters Assistant." His senior year, he announcerd at the home games, and this year he filmed away games, managed the Lincoln lacrosse fan page on Facebook and organized fundraisers.

"The lacrosse team is like a super huge family, and I had to come back," Martinez said. "Plus, my little brother is on the team, and it’s something that has really connected us."

The team’s success is also due to their head coach, Mark Williams. "When Coach Williams coached his first game, it was the first lacrosse game he’d ever seen. …We ended up losing 17-0," Koerner said. "Since then, he’s grown to be a solid coach. He pushed us and motivated us all season."

And the love of lacrosse has even transcended gender. Junior Ally Saltford has been playing since eighth grade.

"When I found out that girls’ lacrosse didn’t even exist in Tallahassee, I decided to play with the ‘big boys,’" she said. Dealing with the confusion when people realized she was the only female member of the lacrosse team was easy for Saltford, but adjusting to the team itself was a big transition.

"Not going to lie, there were quite a few snide comments about me from some of the players, especially some who had been playing a few years," Saltford said. "But as the season went on, they shut up. Boys learn."

She doesn’t hold it against them in the slightest, and plans to be there with all of the guys out on the field next year. "Oh and, boys, if you read this," she said, "I love you all dearly, even when you’re jerks."

Saltford, who plays for the JV team, was one of the many fans cheering in the stands the night of the district championship match.

Up against Chiles, the Trojans staged another comeback, scoring four goals in less than three minutes to claim the district title.

For Brad Wheeler, winning was "like a movie. I still haven’t gotten over it."