by Andrew Straub

St. Paul’s School for Girls celebrated the dedication of their brand-new, state-of-the-art turf field Saturday afternoon in Brooklandville in front of fans, parents, and alumni.  The Rosalind R. Levering Field, named after the school’s first headmistress, runs parallel with the boys’ turf  lacrosse field. It’s believed to be the first turf field featured at an area girls’ school.    

“The field is just an incredible testimony to where girls athletics has come in terms of the resources available that were never part of my collegiate experience,” said Dr. Monica Gillespie, current head of St. Paul’s School for Girls.  “We also have been able to bring in youth from the whole Baltimore area and they get to play here but they also get to know our school which is terrific for us.”

Prior to the Gators’ dramatic 10-9 overtime win over North Harford, the school conducted a dedication ceremony that featured remarks from Gillespie and Levering’s daughter, donor acknowledgements, and a ribbon cutting.  At halftime, this year’s inductees into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame were introduced.

Although the lacrosse team has been hosting games on the turf surface the entire season, Gators coach Tierney Ahearn remains excited about the possibilities the field offers.   

“Hopefully it’s going to bring up the athletic program because more people are going to want to come and play on the turf,” said Ahearn.  “It should increase enrollment and get some of the better athletes to come and play here.”

The field’s large, flat dimensions are a welcome change to the Gators’ former field and poses as a slight home-field advantage.   

“It’s really different from our old field because its so huge,” said junior Illiana Sanza, who scored the winning goal in overtime Saturday.  “But it gets us in shape and it’s sort of like having home-field advantage because we are more used to the running.”  

“From a lacrosse point of view, it’s a lot more athletic because of its size,” said junior Kate Cathell.  “Our other field was kind of small, this one is a lot bigger and has more space to pull the ball out to.  We’ve been working on our running and because of that we our a lot faster than other teams.”