At a pivotal moment in the program’s history, the Fayetteville-Manlius varsity girls lacrosse team has new leadership, with a name familiar to anyone who’s ever pulled for the Hornets.
Kelly and Kristen Taylor, the sister tandem that led F-M to its only pair of state championships, were tapped together as co-head coaches for the 2017 season.
The team’s former head coach, Kate Noel, stepped down
The new coaching duo was tapped just when the Hornets enter new territory as a Class B school after three-plus decades in the Class A ranks. It’s one of a vast array of changes to the local girls lacrosse landscape caused by the move from three to four classes approved late in July by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.
Unlike in boys lacrosse, the BEDS numbers (enrollment in grades nine through 12) used to determine the four classes in girls lacrosse were divided into equal numbers of schools – 78 for Class A, C and D, 77 for Class B.
This meant that F-M, whose enrollment falls between 1,050 and 1,075 for the 2016-17 school year, moved down to Class B, with just five other teams – Auburn, Watertown, Central Square, Fulton and Oswego.
Those same numbers also move East Syracuse Minoa from Class B to C, something that didn’t happen on the boys side, while Jamesville-DeWitt joined its male counterpart by also going to Class C. Reigning state Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy is likely to stay in Class A.
Amid all this, F-M was looking for a new head coach after Kate Noel’s resignation to spend more time with her family. Little did it imagine that it would bring a second generation of the Hornets’ “First Family” of lacrosse back to their alma mater.
“This is a very exciting time for the F-M girls lacrosse program,” said Scott Sugar, F-M’s director of physical education and athletics. “I’m excited to begin working with Kelly and Kristen in these positions. I am extremely confident they will do great things for the Fayetteville-Manlius School District.”
As players, Kelly and Kristen Taylor were the key figures as F-M claimed back-to-back state Class A titles in 2004 and ’05, breaking the three-year hold on both titles by archrival West Genesee. They were playing for their mother, Kathy, who had coached the Hornets since the program’s outset.
Once that was done, each of the Taylor sisters made their way to the University of North Carolina, where they put together stellar college careers that included All-American honors and a trip to the NCAA championship game.
Then they entered the coaching ranks, with Kelly working at two different high schools in Virginia and Kristen making her way back to Central New York and, ultimately, reuniting with her mother, who after a successful stint at Cortland State now coaches the Le Moyne program.
Aside from their new coaching duties, they’ll stay busy off the field, too. Kelly, married to CBA and Naval Academy graduate Andy Tormey, is a mother of two, while Kristen is engaged to Le Moyne men’s basketball coach Patrick Beilein and runs a marketing/consulting business.
