DATE: Thursday, October 16, 1997            TAG: 9710150156

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, SUN SPORTS EDITOR 

                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

MCCULLY'S DOUBLE-DIGIT SCORE IS ONE FOR THE BOOKS

Lakeland's Crystal McCully seemingly scored every time her stick touched the ball last week against Indian River.

But even after she reached double-digits midway through the second half of the Southeastern District field hockey game, she had no idea of her record-setting pace.

``I didn't realize I scored that many,'' McCully said of her 11 goals during a 16-0 victory. The 11 goals tie the national record listed in the 1997 National High School Sports Record Book. Her total also broke the single-game South Hampton Roads and state records of 10 goals, set by Kim Miller of Cox, now a star at Old Dominion.

However, McCully was slightly disappointed with her output when she finally learned of her goal total.

``I thought it was kind of rude,'' said McCully, who was taken out with 10 minutes remaining after coach Sue Ardelji had been notified of McCully's feat.

Rude?

That's right.

It seems McCully feels her binge added another blemish to an Indian River program that has not been able to win a game in its two-year existence and has been outscored 106-1 this season.

Ardelji shared her concerns.

``I don't believe in running up the score,'' the Lakeland coach said. ``I felt really bad about it.''

Even more telling of McCully's feelings was her final assessment of the performance.

``It still wasn't a good game for me for some reason,'' said McCully, who surpassed her own single-season school record with 24 goals. ``It was sloppy.''

Lakeland led by only 4-0 at halftime. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

McCully KEYWORDS: FIELD HOCKEY

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