Another chapter has begun for KSU athletics, and women’s lacrosse is ready to write history with pen in hand.
In the off-season, the Owls were successful in developing team chemistry and goals, creating their 2013 team motto: P.U.S.H.
Perseverance, unity, strength, and heart are the four words that make up P.U.S.H. The inspiration for this slogan came from an ESPN short film titled, Man in The Red Bandana.
“We identified with that early on and it just kind of evolved into what we wanted our team motto to be and what P.U.S.H. meant,” KSU head coach Kristina Llanes said. “The team took it to a whole new level with perseverance, unity, strength, and heart. Obviously those are four things we need to have on a consistent basis to be successful.”
Llanes’ players have truly embraced this P.U.S.H. motto so far. Freshman newcomers Brittany Jackson and Kylar Ferguson even wrote a blog post on ksuowls.com entirely about push, and at one-point states, “Every day the stadium door shuts behind us and there’s the grass at our feet and sticks in our hands. We’re laced up, goggles down, mouth guards in and it’s time to PUSH.”
“Our team saying is ‘start unknown and finish unforgettable,’” Ferguson said. “We are a new program, but really our goal is to just go out and play our hardest and leave an impression and represent Kennesaw State in a respectable way.”
As the newest team to KSU, Llanes understands there are steps involved in achieving success, and the first step will be gaining exposure in the lacrosse community.
“We definitely want to gain exposure for Kennesaw State,” Llanes said. “With us being
the new program, we want to represent them well and we want to make sure we represent the Athletic Department well, and we want to represent ourselves well.”
Thanks to Llanes’ strong recruiting contacts maintained over the course of her coaching career, the current roster for the Owls is full of talent. To Llanes, every player will shine.
“They are really going to share the spotlight as a group,” Llanes said. “I don’t think we are going to be in a situation where we only have one or two of our athletes making all of the defensive plays or offensive plays. And that is just due in fact that they really work hard as a team.”
Out of the 17 players on the Owls’ current roster, 11 are freshmen. To Ferguson, age should not be a factor for the underclassmen players.
