RUSKIN, Fla. — Some things just go better together.

Like Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year Abby Elwell and her top target Kate Keith. They formed one of the best duos in flag football this past season.

What You Need To Know

  • The Lennard Longhorns made history this year when they advanced to the flag football state championships for the first time ever

  • Recent graduate Kate Keith was a big reason the Longhorns enjoyed unprecedented success

  • She will be continuing her education on and off the football field at the University of Florida

Now recent graduates, they can reflect on the true value they got out of this sport.

“A lot of family and experience I got from flag football,” Kate said. “And just learning from my teammates and my coaches. And it just gave me lessons that I’m going to use my whole life.”

It gave her tons of memories too. Kate took part in a campaign to promote the sport that has given her so much. She was featured in a Tampa Bay Bucs video during the season. And what a season it was. Kate capped off her senior year with a trip to the state championships, a first in school history. The Longhorns lost a heart breaker in the final seconds of the Class 2A state championship game. But even though they came up short of the title, Kate’s proud of the foundation she’s helped build with the Lennard program.

“We might have not won the state championship, but we’ve put in so much work to get to that point and all the experiences that we’ve had.,” she said. “There’s been big games that we’ve won all together, so I’m just so proud of everyone and what we’ve done this entire Lennard career.”

Kate crammed a lot into her high school experience. In addition to flag football, she also competed on Lennard’s swim team. Then in the classroom, she was one of the Longhorns top seniors and got her Associate’s Degree through dual-enrollment at HCC. Next up, she’s heading to the University of Florida where she will be roommates with her quarterback Abby and is excited about the next level.

“I’m definitely ready to go to college and just experience that,” Kate said. “And know if I join the flag team, the club team, I’m very excited to go and meet new people and redo that work that I’ve done here somewhere else.”