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S. Leyse & L. WillifordFitzgerald High SchoolFitzgerald, Georgia by Robert Preston, Jr. photography by John Langford |
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Both Samantha Leyse and Lanie Williford followed in their sisters’ footsteps. Samantha watched her older sister, Deborah, pick up a tennis racket and begin playing. Lanie, on the other hand, observed Jenny, one year her junior, bring home good grades and always rank at the top of her class. Because of the influence of their sisters, their paths crossed at an early age and landed them both on the Fitzgerald High School tennis team, as well as at the top of the Class of 2009. Samantha and Lanie are good friends. They met when Lanie moved to Fitzgerald in the fourth grade. According to Lanie, she was still the new girl in that fourth grade class, even though she had been in Ben Hill County for two years. “She accepted me into her group of friends, and we’ve been friends ever since,” says Lanie. “We don’t compete with our grades. She’s smarter than I am!” Lanie laughed when she made the above comment. Samantha may be a few spots higher in the class rankings, but they aren’t separated by much — less than a point, in fact. First up is Samantha. She’s a member of the Fitzgerald High tennis team, but also plays soccer and cheers. Samantha picked up soccer as a junior, and for the last two seasons has played both sports. It’s a difficult balancing act since both sports are going on at the same time. “I practice one sport for an hour then go to the other, so I practice both every day. If there are ever any conflicts, regions games or matches have precedence over non-region,” she says. Samantha took up tennis in the seventh grade. Her sister, Deborah, played and Samantha thought it would be fun to play as well. She began playing for her middle school team, and has competed at the school level for six years. She plays #1 doubles with Katie Gordon. The duo has played together for three years and is undefeated in region competition. “We get along well, and we hang out together off the court,” she says. Samantha loves doubles because she enjoys playing at the net. She has a particular affinity for overhead smashes, and possesses quick hands. She has good control over her volleys and a high first serve percentage. Her backhand is her better groundstroke, something she attributes to being left-handed. “Because of that, everything is backwards,” she laughs. Samantha played soccer as a child but got away from the game as she grew older. Last year she decided it was time to start playing again. “I like the physical aspect of soccer. It’s a fast-paced game,” she says. Samantha plays left center mid, and racks up a large number of assists. Her soccer career is most memorable for the one — and only — goal she ever scored, even if it was by accident. This season, Samantha had the ball and saw that her center striker was open near the net. Samantha was a long way out and fired a well-placed goal in her direction. Her pass wasn’t well placed enough and missed its mark. Fortunately, it went right in the wrong direction and found the net for the goal. “I was going for the assist,” she says. Samantha also understands how to sacrifice for her team. As a freshman, she was a flyer on the competition cheer squad. That means she was one of the girls who did the acrobatics. Admittedly, it was a scary assignment. She fell and ended up damaging a ligament in her ankle. Instead of letting that sideline her, she says she taped it up and kept going. That year, her competition cheer team won the state title in Columbus. This season, Samantha is a captain on the competition team. “She relates well to the younger team members. There is a lot of pressure on the younger girls. She remembers what that was like and doesn’t want them to go through what she did,” says her mother, Sandy. Samantha is in the top 10 in her class, and has always been motivated to make good grades. “I’m impressed by her determination to play sports and remain a straight-A student. She may not get home until 10 or 11, but her homework is finished when she arrives. She knows her future will be made with her grades,” says Sandy. Her father, Karl, agrees. “It beats all I’ve ever seen with her grades. She catches on very easily,” he says. Samantha has always been motivated to make good grades. She says her parents let her know from a very early age that grades had to be a priority. She picked up on that very early, and maintains a 95 average and a top 10 placing in her class. Sports never interfered with academics. Whether it took staying up into the wee hours of the morning or doing homework on bus trips to and from matches, Samantha knew what had to be done and always took care of her academic business. She lists math as her favorite subject. There is no gray area in math, and that is something she finds comforting. “There is always an exact answer. I’m in calculus now, and I like it better than trig.” |
    Samantha's Favorite:
Lanie's Favorite:
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Samantha would like to study speech pathology at Valdosta State University. She says that she would like to help kids with stutters and lisps. Sometimes, she says, those kinds of speech problems are cute, but she knows that children with stutters and lisps often struggle, and she would like to help kids overcome those kinds of problems. Additionally, a stroke left her grandfather with a speech impediment, and she wants to help others who are similarly affected by strokes and other medical conditions. Lanie, on the other hand, has been motivated by sibling rivalry. “Since I entered high school, I’ve wanted to be an honor graduate. Both of my sisters were honor graduates, and I didn’t want to be the only one who wasn’t,” she says. The 17-year-old senior began playing tennis in the third grade. She says her mother encouraged her to take tennis lessons, and she did each summer. In middle school, she began playing for the school and has ever since. Lanie plays #1 singles, and has an aggressive approach to the game. Like Samantha, her backhand is her stronger groundstroke. She also enjoys playing at the net, though she admits that she isn’t always good at it. Her favorite moment on the tennis court came in middle school. She was playing #1 singles back then, and she had lost every match that season. In the last match of the year, she pulled out a victory, and helped her team win as well. It was a good feeling and helped her end the season on a positive note. | |
January 2012
Robert Preston Jr. 
Micki K Photography 
