By Kyle LoJacono
Tara Marshall and Shanel Sweet are seniors at Land O’ Lakes High, are members of the Gators softball team and play several sports.
Both say they have loved the chance to play at Land O’ Lakes and have helped bring their squads success.
The similarities end there.
Comfortable in blue and gold
Marshall has attended Land O’ Lakes every year in high school. She has been the Gators soccer starting goalkeeper and on the softball team since her freshman season.

She admits the sports are very different, but there are a few things she can apply to both.
“The team mentality is the same,” said Marshall, who mainly plays shortstop in softball. “You workout and grow together. … Being a goalie and being a shortstop are very similar because you talk to the most people and control the play.”
Marshall, who picked up softball at age 4, has been in 55 softball games during the last four years, playing almost everywhere except as a pitcher. She just had surgery to fix a problem with her shoulder, but said nothing will stop her from getting back on the field for the Class 4A-District 8 tournament.
“She’s been a workhorse for us the last four years,” said 10-year Gators softball coach Jamie Martin. “Softball isn’t her sport by trade, but she works very hard at it. She leads by example and is always working. She’s injured right now, but she still comes out to practice. She’s always here with us.”
Marshall said Martin has been able to relate softball to what she does during the winter between the pipes.
“She has a Goddaughter (Shannon Aitken), who was the goalie at the University of Tampa and went to Land O’ Lakes,” Marshall said. “She can relate things to me like a goalie. She would compare them and relate how to move to the ball.”
Marshall and the Gators girls soccer team reached the regional tournament three of her for years as the 4A-8 runner-up, just missing out this season.
Marshall also was an outside hitter in volleyball her first three years, but gave that up to be a kicker on the Gators football team this year. She said playing football this season is her favorite memory of playing high school sports.
“Football was great this year,” Marshall said. “I wish I could have done it my other years. Volleyball was fun, but football was more than I was excepting.
“The attention of me playing football was bigger than I thought it would be,” Marshall continued. “Also the attention from my teammates was different. I thought they were going to be a lot harder on me, but they were more welcoming than I thought.”
Marshall has signed to play soccer at Thomas University in Georgia, where she plans to major in either international business or prelaw while minoring in criminal justice.
Whatever she decides to do in life, she will never forget her time as a Gator: “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but Land O’ Lakes.”
Change from Cowboy to Gator
Sweet went to Gaither her first three years, where she was a point guard and quarterback for the basketball and flag football teams respectively.

Her family moved north of the Hillsborough County line into Pasco County, making her a Gator. She has continued to play basketball, but had to give up flag football.
“They don’t have flag football here in Pasco, so I figured I’d come out and give (softball) a try,” Sweet said. “It’s something to do and I like it. It’s not like I just picked up the game. I played baseball when I was younger for six years.”
This is the first year she has played fastpitch softball, but she has been a quick study.
“She’s just a fierce competitor,” said 10-year Gators softball coach Jamie Martin. “When you go after everything as hard as she does you’re going to succeed. I think if she wanted to be the best golfer or bowler, she’d be able to do those things too. She’s just that kind of kid and that good of an athlete.”
Sweet mainly plays on the infield, but has been everywhere but the pitching mound. She is batting .333 in eight games, and has only two errors.
The Gators girls basketball team lost only one game this season that Sweet played in. The squad went 24-3, 20 more wins than the year before, reaching the regional finals.
Sweet has succeeded in both softball and basketball, despite the stark contrast in the pace of the two games.
“I think competitiveness and athleticism translate to any sport, but the speed is totally different with basketball and softball,” Sweet said. “Different speed, but you need to be ready on every play. The ball can come to you at any time.”
Sweet attributes a lot of her softball success to Martin’s coaching.
“Coach Martin is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Sweet said. “We just click. She’s amazing. She relates playing the infield to playing defense in basketball. She says you need to stay low and be ready like in basketball.”
Sweet scored her 1,000th career point in basketball this season, but another moment stands out to her has her best at Land O’ Lakes.
“The Gulf game in the regional semis,” Sweet said. “… The 1,000 points was a big accomplishment too, but it was over a long time. For one moment, it was the Gulf game.”
The Gators defeated Gulf 69-60 in the semifinals. Both squads entered the matchup without a loss to another Pasco County team during the season.
She said she wants to do something with math, such as entering the business world. She takes several Advanced Placement courses and has a 3.8 grade point average.
“Having a challenge in the classroom is a lot to deal with when you’re always playing sports,” Sweet said. “It’s hard to juggle sports and grades, but I’ve always learned to put my academics first. My dad (Shane) always told me how important it is to keep my grades up.”
Sweet will sign her letter of intent this week to play basketball at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina.
Sweet only wore the Gators blue and gold for one year, but will cherish the memory: “Coming here to Land O’ Lakes was a blessing.”
–All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.