A foot strikes the bright green turf as soon as the ref blows his whistle, and freshman Sterling Thronton sprints until her bright yellow ball reaches the back of the net.

Thornton is the only freshman on the girls varsity lacrosse team for Wando this season, but her position at midfield puts her in a place to play with every single girl on the team.

“I love being on a team because everyone uplifts each other and it’s like a family,” Thornton said.

She is a newcomer on varsity, but not a new player in her position on the field. With midfield, players must participate in attack as well as defense, and some prefer one over the other.

“I enjoy attack more because it is more faster and I like to shoot,” Thornton said. Even with her preference of attack on one side of the field, she still continues with her full field sprints. A lacrosse game is now 45 minutes, and a feeling of exhaustion comes with it.

“Sometimes I want to go out but I know I have to keep going because I want to play… the hardest part of playing is probably when I drop a ball or make a bad pass and it just brings me down sometimes,” Thornton said.

Fatigue is a common result with the amount of running Thornton does combined with the plays the team runs. Being the only freshman on varsity is accomplishing, but also comes with struggles, however Thornton expresses the chance to be on varsity to a high extent.

“I feel great. I think it is a great opportunity and even though I may not play sometimes, I am here to learn and get better,” Thornton said.

Thornton’s future is unknown considering she has four seasons left at Wando and she keeps her expectations vague as well.

“For my future, I am not really sure, I’m just going to see where it can take me and I’m going to work hard,” Thornton said.