A championship escort had been ordered for the Lady Wolverine soccer players as they returned from winning the state title game in Raleigh. The convoy shepherded the team bus through Columbus to the high school, with hundreds of families and fans lining the streets.

The celebration got going hours earlier, when Polk scored on a dramatic late goal by junior Anna Trakas, the game MVP. Her teammates flocked to her afterwards, and the sideline converged moments later as the clock hit zero. The distribution of medals and trophies brought the season to an official end, but congratulatory hugs, lifelong memories, and a police escort were still to come.

Back on March 23, in Polk&squo;s ninth game of the year, a win against Mitchell moved the team above .500 for the first time, and Polk coach Lennox &dquo;Rock&dquo; Charles spoke about what his goals for the team were.

&dquo;Right now, [I&squo;m] just trying to get us to play a little better,&dquo; he said. &dquo;But the overall goals, we&squo;re gonna try to win the conference, we&squo;d like to get that No. 1 spot so we can be at home for a game or two in the playoffs. Then you can try to look for that bigger one.&dquo; That bigger one was the state championship.

The Lady Wolverines were goal-oriented all season, scoring right at 3 per game. They were shut out only once after March 14. Kaitlin Franks led the team with 19 scores, followed by Trakas with 15 and Brooke Campbell, who had 11. Fourteen goals were assisted by Campbell, 11 by Trakas and 10 by Mary Kathryn Hemphill. Jazmine Bridgeman allowed 1.03 goals per contest, with more than 200 saves on the year.

Polk&squo;s final record is 20-6.