Lee Lacrosse Signs Fortney

 The lacrosse program at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School is just three years old. But it already has its first college signee, as senior Abby Fortner has signed to play lacrosse at Lee University.

"This means the world to me. It's a great opportunity. I never imagined this would actually happen. It's amazing," Fortner said Wednesday during a signing ceremony in the GPHS library.

"I never thought I would play lacrosse in college. My junior year in high school was the first time I ever played lacrosse, so I never thought I'd have this opportunity."

Fortner, who also played tennis at G-P, said some of her friends convinced her to give lacrosse a try. And it didn't take her long to decide which sport she liked best.
"I just fell in love with lacrosse and haven't looked back," she said.

Despite Fortner having just two years of playing experience, she earned First Team All-Region honors this season. And G-P coach Stacy Champagne said Fortner is a great athlete and consummate teammate.
"Her leadership is above and beyond, and she did anything I ever asked her to do. I cannot say enough about Abby. There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe her," Champagne said. "Her leadership, attitude and sportsmanship are outstanding, and she is always very respectful and courteous. And every time she stepped onto the field, she gave it her all."

Champagne added that Fortner's signing Wednesday was a great moment for the G-P girls lacrosse program, showing just how far it has come in its short existence.

"With our program being this young, I think Abby's signing speaks volumes," Champagne said. "I think the county as a whole has grown in the lacrosse program. But for the G-P program, this speaks volumes of the skill level these kids are growing into. Our program has come a long way, and I'm very proud."

And Fortner spoke very highly of her time spent with the team.

"Our team is such a family," she said. "It's such a wonderful group of girls to play with, and I learned so much. It was just a great all-around experience."

After making it official Wednesday, Fortner will be taking her talents from a young lacrosse program at G-P to one that is even younger at Lee, a Christ-centered liberal arts school located in Cleveland, Tenn.. In January, the school announced it would be adding women's lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport, beginning play in the spring of 2017. When making her college selection, Fortner said she had a few options, but Lee stood out to her.

"It was a very, very difficult decision," she said. "I was back and forth between several different colleges, and I was down to the wire with another college (Montreat) that I had to decide whether to accept or decline on May 1, and I had to decline. It was hard to do that, but I just feel like Lee is where I need to be. I love the campus and the atmosphere there. It just seems like a perfect fit for me."

Fortner is the Lee women's lacrosse program's first signee, and head coach Addie Wadley said she is excited to bring the Lady Highlander to Cleveland to be a Lady Flame.

"We are so excited to have Abby join our team for our first season of women's lacrosse at Lee. She is an incredible defender and a real leader and will be a real force when it comes to protecting our goal," Wadley said. "Abby is the first player we signed, and we are excited to bring lacrosse to Cleveland. In our first season, our goal is to familiarize the Lee campus and surrounding community with lacrosse and get them excited about the sport. But we're competing in a league that, even in our first year, I believe we can be competitive in, which is exciting."

According to a January press release announcing the addition of women's lacrosse at Lee, the school is joining Shorter University, Alabama Huntsville, Young Harris (Ga.) and the University of Montevallo (Ala.) as the fifth team in the Gulf South Conference women's lacrosse league, and Valdosta State and Christian Brothers have shown an interest. Lee University President Dr. Paul Conn said in the release that 52 high schools in Tennessee are currently playing women's lacrosse and others are being added. Further, NCAA Division II lists 100 women's lacrosse teams, and at least 13 more, including Lee, are entering within the next two years, which shows just how fast the sport is growing.

Wadley, who was a standout lacrosse player at Biola University (Calif.), brings previous coaching experience with her to Cleveland in the form of a stint as the head coach of the club program at the University of Oregon. In an April press release announcing her hiring at Lee, the Santa Barbara, California, native said she was excited to lead the brand new Lady Flames lacrosse program.

"Lee could not have picked a better time to start the program. Women's lacrosse is currently growing rapidly in the U.S. at both the high school and collegiate level," she said. "I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to coach lacrosse in such a spiritually rich, God-centered environment."

As the program's first signee, Fortner will serve as the building block as Wadley continues to build the roster of the first Lee women's lacrosse team. And Champagne said Fortner will also continue to serve as an example for future G-P lacrosse players to follow as she goes through what is sure to be a successful playing career at Lee.

"She will be very successful at Lee. Her sportsmanship and spirit just exudes with greatness. I'm really excited for her. She has a lot to bring to the table with her leadership and her heart and always giving it her all," Champagne said. "I'm extremely excited for her. I cannot wait to see what her future holds. She's the type of young lady who will come back to our community and give back and help the next players in line. I'm sure she'll want to give back to her team and to Gatlinburg and to the other girls across the county."

Once at Lee, Fortner said she plans to major in education to pursue missionary work overseas.

"I would like to be a missionary and teach overseas," she said. "It's wherever the Lord calls me to be, and I feel a calling for mission work. So hopefully I'll be a teacher overseas someday."