TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - A State Championship, not a bad way to cap off your junior year. For Maclay senior Daniel Sweeney, he's looking to have that same feeling to cap off his career.
"My dream was to always win a State Championship," he said of last year's title. "We've done that, so now it's just having fun with this sport and with the team."
They are having fun, and looking good doing it. Undefeated so far this season, and a big reason why? The play of Sweeney.
"He's a complete all around player. He's technically very gifted with both feet," said head coach Andy Warner. "He has great vision so not only can he defend and organize the defensive unit but when he gets the ball he can maintain possession."
"We have a lot of seniors this year and juniors that I've played with for a couple years," added Sweeney. Each year we know each other better and better, so we work together better as a team."
That leadership comes both on the pitch and off for Sweeney. When it comes to the books, he boasts a 4.83 GPA.
"I think it's just prioritizing and planning ahead," he said of maintaining his grades. "If you have something coming up, just doing stuff today instead of tomorrow to be prepared for it."
"When you have players that have been in your program for multiple years, the new players coming in find very quickly that the standards are set very, very high," added coach Warner. "As a result of that, there's really a quick learning curve here. We have a lot of young men that are really good mentors and he's one of the top mentors we have in school."
A top mentor, a top athlete, and he's looking to go out on top in his final year as a Marauder.
"Our goal is to go back to State and win State again," said Sweeney. "It's a lot easier to be competitive when you enjoy it."
And when you're winning - it makes it that much more enjoyable.
