'It was emotional': Bartow's girls lacrosse program wins first district title in history

BARTOW — There was an epiphany for Bartow girls lacrosse coach April O'Brien.

Three of her four seasons, the Yellow Jackets have played Celebration in the Class 2A, District 7 Championship game, only to fall short every time.

The caveat: Everyone of those games have been on the road. This time Bartow, as the No. 1 seed, got the rematch on its home turf Wednesday night.

Fourth time was a charm, as Bartow beat Celebration 19-9, earning the program’s first district championship.

“For us to get that win at Bartow, it was such a gift for our seniors. To be able to watch them all run out on the field, get their trophy, kind of stand back and see that, it was emotional; it was awesome,” O'Brien said.

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Celebration historically has a pipeline of talent that starts in the developmental stages of the game. Conversely, Bartow traditionally has players that only start playing once they reach high school, though the program has had six straight winning seasons.

In the past year, however, Polk County has a new travel program as part of Storm Select Lacrosse . It comprises players from Bartow, Lake Wales, Lake Gibson, All Saints and Winter Haven high schools and faces top teams from Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Four Bartow players competed with the club in the past year: senior Toniah Patterson, junior Elyssa Eichar, sophomore Janin Gonzalez and senior Manderley Barthel.

This was the difference that finally propelled Bartow over the top.

“Any time that they can play summer ball or fall ball, it changes everything. Getting their hands on a stick is such a big difference outside of the regular season,” O'Brien said. “…I’ve had such a gift of being with these girls (since) they were freshmen. And now they’re the seniors. And it clearly feels like this group is my group. … I can see where that has come to fruition.”

The next step for Bartow (10-3) is traveling to Oviedo on Friday and playing Hagerty – the No. 5 team in the nation and the No. 4 team in Florida.

“You’ve (got to) focus on basics, especially with this game. You’re going to push harder than what we have all season,” Obrien said. “We have to just leave it all on the field when it comes down to it.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 'It was emotional': Bartow's girls lacrosse program wins first district title in history