PALM BEACH GARDENS — This spring brought a season to remember for Kelly Ferrell and the girls lacrosse team at William T. Dwyer High.
Although her fourth and final year at Lincoln Knowles Field won't include a district championship, it's still the best one the senior captain has had. And if the Panthers are lucky enough to make the cut for state playoffs, it isn't over yet.
Dwyer has gone from 5-10 in 2023 to 9-9 in 2024 with Ferrell leading the way, and her efforts in the turnaround have earned her the honor of being The Palm Beach Post's Athlete of the Week.
"It's really cool," Ferrell said. "Especially for it to be out of all of the athletes in Palm Beach County. I was very excited to be nominated and even more to win."
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Ferrell was nominated for her contribution of five goals in a 13-2 defeat of Palm Beach Central to close March.
Ferrell ended the regular season averaging 2.6 goals per game to lead her crew with 42 total. If that weren't enough, the middie topped the stat sheet in every other category but goaltending. Through 16 games, she also had a team-best 12 assists, 17 ground balls and 40 draw controls.
"I started playing lacrosse in second grade. My parents had me play a bunch of sports, but I guess that was just my favorite at the time," Ferrell said. "Then I started playing travel and it was so much fun to play with people who cared so much about this sport."
If it weren't for going the travel route and her current team, Lax Maniax, it's hard to say whether Ferrell would be realizing her dream of playing at the next level.
"I think we have have 11 D1 commits. Our whole team is committed, so being around so many people who love this sport so much really motivates me," Ferrell said.
For her high school team at Dwyer, that hasn't quite been the case.
"This is our sixth or seventh coach in the last two years," Ferrell said.
"We've had a lot of coaching trouble, but finally having one stick is very stable and helps us as a team because we're finally working together in the right way."
According to Dwyer's athletics website, former coach Anna Spicer is still listed as the head of the program, but it's coach Thomas Amenita getting the glory for building a foundation that Ferrell would be proud to leave on before she heads off to Stetson.
Ferrell's choice to join the Hatters came down to location and the views.
"It's gorgeous there and it's close to home," Ferrell said. "I didn't want to quit my sport after playing it for so long. That seemed like such a sad ending."
"I'm just really excited."
Emilee Smarr is a sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
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