BRIDGEPORT— Wherever Bridgeport dual-sport standout Caroline Lloyd decided to go to college, one thing was certain: She was going to play two sports.
Lloyd, the Class AA state pole vault champion and all-star volleyball standout, decided early she would do both.
Despite a few offers from Division I schools for the pole vault and an offer to do both sports at Division II Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Lloyd decided to stay closer to home and signed a letter-of-intent for both track and volleyball at Glenville State Thursday at the Bridgeport High School library.
“I love both sports so much that I just couldn’t imagine myself not doing them both in college,” Lloyd said. “I really thought hard about Nova, but it came down to they were offering money for track, but I would have to walk-on for volleyball.
“So I thought I don’t want a big college loan bill coming at me later in life and when Glenville made it that I would only have to come up with a couple thousand a year, I jumped on it.”
Lloyd sat down with new GSC volleyball coach Jim Edwards and second-year track and field coach Nick Spino and developed a scenario for Lloyd to do both at the school.
“We really had a good talk and they were receptive to me doing both sports,” she said. “For me, it couldn’t have gone any better.
“I know Glenville is like really out there, but I’ll be so busy with studies and my sports that it’s just not that big of deal.
“Plus, my parents will be able to see me play on a regular basis instead of having to fly to Florida to see me every now and then.”
In volleyball, Lloyd led the Indians with 197 aces in helping Bridgeport to a 27-8-5 record while gaining a berth in the state tournament. Her well-rounded game showed up in two more statistics, as she had 240 kills and 210 digs.
“She was a beast on the back row, but she came up big for us at the net, too,” BHS volleyball coach Ali Curry said. “For her size, she was a solid hitter and gave us another option at the net.
“She was always on the floor because she was good at everything.”
She drew a high level of interest for her pole vaulting, and capped off her senior season with a vault of 10-00 to win the state meet in Charleston in May.
Bridgeport girls track coach Emilee Stout believes Lloyd’s best is yet to come.
“She truly loves both sports and she works so hard at both of them that I know she’s going to be successful,” Stout said. “She has a passion for the pole vault that I’ve not seen at the high school level and I know she’ll be going a lot higher than she did here.”
Ironically, Lloyd will be rooming with Jezaray Casto of arch-rival and Class AA state champion Philip Barbour.
“If someone would have told me I’d be rooming with someone from Philip Barbour at this time last year, I’d have told them they were crazy,” Lloyd said. “She was the best player on our biggest rival. But now, we’ll have the same goals and that is to make Glenville State the best.”
Lloyd will be joining Casto and the remainder of the her new teammates soon, as she reports to GSC on Saturday.
From: http://www.theet.com/sports/local_sports/lloyd-to-give-two-sports-a-try-at-gsc/article_cfe8ea86-01f2-5f0a-a838-dba9597e29da.html
