By Sports editor, Brian Hoffman
The William Byrd lacrosse teams were looking to move up in the standings this spring before the pandemic put the season on hold. Both teams were optimistic for improvement after the preseason.
The girls are coming off a 5-7 season and have five seniors on the roster, Emmy Harris, Grecia Hernandez, Elizabeth Hancock, Chloe Pascoe and Kaleigh Stover. The Terriers return keeper Haley Firebaugh, who had a strong freshman season, and coach Dan Eberhardt also felt like Byrd would be much improved at midfield with Stover, sophomore Trinity Hylton and freshman Olivia Hurd.
“We struggled with a young team last year,” said Eberhardt. “Two of our three midfielders were freshmen, as was our goalie. This season we expected to perform better with the young players gaining experience and becoming more confident.”
The girls qualified for the regional tournament last year while the boys did not. The Byrd boys won just two games, both over William Fleming, under first year coach Truman Farmer. However, the Terriers expected to be much improved this year with seven seniors, including Payton Meadows, Nick Semones, Scott Wyatt, Connor Johnson, Hunter Howard, Andrew Manor, and Brandon James Wilhelm.
In two preseason scrimmages the Terriers beat Roanoke Catholic, 7-1, and Blacksburg, 13-9. The Terriers were fired up for their opener with Fleming on March 16, but all school activities were cancelled a couple days prior and the pandemic has all but ended hopes for a spring lacrosse season.
