Severna Park field hockey coach Lil Shelton added to her legendary resume by guiding the Falcons to their state-record 17th state title with a 2-0 victory over Quince Orchard in the 4A final Monday night.
Shelton has gone 479-53-9 in 32 seasons, and has led the Falcons to a state title in each of the past three seasons. But her team?s latest championship came after the Falcons (15-3) lost three games during the season and failed to qualify for the Anne Arundel County title game.
What makes this year?s team different?
This group has been special all year. The other schools in the area have gotten so much better and that’s what we want to happen so we can get excited when we play Annapolis and Broadneck and South River.
What?s the state of field hockey in Maryland?
It’s coming up. It’s getting much better than it was even just a few years ago. Look at the big crowd we had [against Quince Orchard]. People see all of this, and we even have little kids who play midget ball come out to watch us. They are the next generation of field hockey players.
What motivates you?
Look at all of these people here. Many of them weren’t here last year or the year before that. They are so excited for their kids winning a state championship. This never gets old. We have a new set of faces and a new set of challenges each year. We’rethe comeback kids. People said we lost three games and aren’t going anywhere, and then we just got it together and here we are again.
