Lauren Grove, certified super star. (Mindy Grove photo)
Miss Intense. (John Fisken photo)
Easy rider. (Tiffany Briscoe photo)
Pitch queen. (Fisken photo)
The voice came from behind me, calm, composed, with not a trace of boasting, just filled with quiet confidence.
“I am going to be on that wall.”
Lauren Grove was a relative newbie at the time, barely a few days into her high school athletic career, but there was absolutely no doubt when she spoke — she was going places.
I was gazing up at the track and field record board in the Coupeville High School gym.
Grove, in her own uniquely understated way, wanted me to know she would one day be sitting up there with Natasha Bamberger, with Chad Gale, with Jennie Cross, with the best her school had ever produced.
And she was right.
Jump forward to now and Lauren, who celebrates the big 1-8 today, is up on the big board twice, part of two of the fastest relay teams ever to wear Coupeville’s uniform.
She has a season left, and thanks to a school levy, will be among the leaders of a Wolf team which will debut the school’s new track oval this spring.
As her senior year unspools, it is easy to be impressed with Miss Grove on so many levels.
One of just two Class of 2017 athletes who are still on target to play a sport in all 12 of their high school seasons (joining Tiffany Briscoe), Lauren has blazed an impressive trail.
Two seasons on the volleyball court, then a mid-career jump to soccer, where she became an award-winning goaltender seemingly overnight.
Four seasons on the basketball court, an integral part of teams which won league titles, advanced to state and staked Coupeville’s claim to being the dominant hoops power in the region.
And, of course, track.
Three seasons (so far) of busting records, piling up medals and gliding like a gazelle, albeit one whose eyes scorch foes very souls as she rips past them.
Grove is passionate, committed, relentless as an athlete, the very model to hold up to younger girls and boys who want to rise to a high level.
When she walks off the high school stage for the final time — hopefully bearing more medals at next spring’s state track meet — I feel confident she will be able to do so with a genuine sense of accomplishment.
Lauren will be able to look back and say, “I gave everything I had. I never, ever backed down or took the easy way out.”
And her parents, her family, her friends and teammates, her coaches and fans, will be justifiably proud of all she accomplished.
But, of course, it goes way beyond whatever medals she has (or will) win, whatever baskets she has hit, whatever soccer shots she has knocked away from her goal.
Lauren Grove is a truly remarkable young woman, one of the most genuinely talented I have written about.
There is a sweetness to her soul that is rare, an unswerving loyalty to her family and friends that always seems genuine, and, if we had to sum her up in one word, I would say … class.
She is successful because she works hard, and she is respected because of how she carries herself, on the field and off.
Lauren Grove, when she was younger, was sure she was going to accomplish great things.
She was right, but her greatest accomplishment is not the medals or the wins, but the confident, compassionate, loyal young woman who makes the world around her a better place for her presence.
Miss Grove, you have impressed me, and I know you will continue to do so, through these final months of high school and long after.
My birthday present to you?
Early induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, effective today.
We could wait for you to graduate and all that, but we’re not going to do that.
You have earned your slot for your athletic accomplishments, and, more so, for the person you are.
From all of us who have watched your meteoric rise, as an athlete and a brilliant young woman, happy birthday and welcome to our lil’ digital hall of wonders.
You’re the best, Lauren. Always know that we all think that.
