Conquering Giants

An obscure private college in Gaffney, S.C. is one of the Southeast's athletic powerhouses

By Steve Eubanks

Quick, what Southeastern school has the highest percentage of athletes among its on-campus student body?

The answer is not Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Clemson or any of the “Techs,” which have historically fielded more athletes than their student population could reasonably justify. It’s not Vanderbilt or Duke or any of the elite private schools that sport big Division I programs. It’s not even Davidson, even though the small North Carolina college that was a game away from basketball’s Final Four comes close. The fact is, you could guess from now until Bowl season without naming wee little Limestone College a couple of miles east of the Big Peach on I-85 in Gaffney, S.C.

You know your school is small when the landmark is a peach-shaped water tank that looks like a giant derriere on the side of the road, but such is life at Limestone. With a campus the size of a modest shopping mall, the place is about as urbane as the George Strait music they pipe through the PA system between the baseball and soccer fields. With only 750 on-campus students, and abutting a limestone quarry that once employed a good portion of Gaffney, size doesn’t really matter at the private college, unless, of course, you’re talking about the strength-training room, the wrestling facility, the swim center or the lacrosse field, all of which are state-of-the-art, pristine and big enough to pique envy from most D-I athletic directors. But when 60 percent of your students are athletes, and your school already has two NCAA Division II National Championship titles this year, nobody can begrudge you a few jock-centric priorities.

“There is definitely an athletic culture on campus,” said Mike Cerino, Limestone’s athletic director and men’s lacrosse coach.

“Everyone seemed to recognize that athletics was a way for the school to break through and get noticed. Now there is a culture that says, yes, we are going to do our schoolwork, but when it’s time to compete we’re going to be very competitive. That breeds an intense competitive spirit on campus as each team and each individual athlete wants to improve. That is a result of the environment here.”

It is an environment fueled largely by the Internet. Through satellite campuses and online classes, Limestone is actually the largest private school in South Carolina, eclipsing Furman, Wofford and Bob Jones University in total enrollment. But very few of those students ever darken the door of a classroom in Gaffney. They do, however, help fund its 20 athletic programs.

All 20 haven’t been rousing successes, but the school did produce a Division II National Champion in men’s 200-meter freestyle swimming earlier this year, and another in wrestling at the 184-pound weight class. The athletic culture at Limestone also fosters an environment where the baseball team shows up and cheers a women’s soccer game, and vice versa. Of course, in a town where the hottest spot off campus is Willard’s Hash & Barbecue, good times are created more than found. Still, you can’t spend five minutes at Limestone without sensing that the place is full of Davids hoping for a fight with Goliath.

Nowhere is that more evident than among the most elite athletes on campus: the men’s lacrosse team. During a game against Mars Hill (a larger school in the mountains near Asheville), Limestone never trailed, and by halftime the outcome was no longer in question. That didn’t stop players and coaches from becoming incensed that the win wasn’t a rout. Even the trash talking had a chip-on-the-shoulder air. During a shift change one of the Limestone midfielders began taunting his opponents for drinking water. “Don’t need those bottles! What’s wrong with you? Run all day, baby! Run all day!”

They won 21-12, and to a man, the players said they still had a long way to go.

“That’s what coach wants us to do. Don’t take anybody lightly,” said senior midfielder Greg Kacinko. “Take every opponent like they’re the best team in the nation and then play like you are. It feels good when you do that.”

It also feels good when you skunk opponents. Scores like 22-3, 18-6, and 20-5 are so common that they are expected. In the press-box (yes, they have one for Division II lacrosse), a graduate assistant from the women’s soccer team and a former women’s lacrosse player kept the statistics during the thumping of Mars Hill.

“Wow, they’re not playing great,” one of them said, even though Limestone had built an almost insurmountable lead. The other girl agreed, adding, “Coach Cerino is going to be pissed.”

He wasn’t, or at least he didn’t seem to be. After congratulating his team and giving out assignments for the rest of the week, Cerino seemed pleased, not just with beating Mars Hill, but with the overall state of his program and his sport.

“Because we don’t have football, this allowed us to be the big sport on campus,” he said. “I saw that as a great opportunity. So by 1998 we had some very talented players, and by 2000 we were national champs beating C.W. Post, a school of 8,000, in the national championship game. We are the Southern-most school to win a national championship (in lacrosse).”

Go figure. A college that most people outside of greater Spartanburg couldn’t find on a bet is one of the most athlete-friendly small schools in the nation – according to Cerino, “the faculty and president are among our biggest supporters” – and, of all things, a lacrosse powerhouse.

For those who have never seen a game or never read a story about lacrosse that didn’t include the words “Duke” and “rape,” think “Australian rules” football with helmets and sticks. It’s fast, skillful and violent, combining all the best elements of football, basketball, hockey and soccer. They have face-offs that look like the opening seconds of a UFC brawl, attackers with wide-receiver speed, defensemen that make Ray Lewis look like a wuss, stick checks, shift changes and enough scoring to keep you glued to your seat until the horn blows. What they don’t have are Richard Simmons short-shorts, ambiguous rules or silly yellow and red cards. Oh yeah, and fans: they could use a few more of those, especially in the Southeast where the game gets pigeonholed with yacht racing and squash as an effete club sport so far removed from big-time football it might as well be played on another planet.

No one is quite sure when lacrosse, the oldest original American game first played by Native Americans, got pegged as snooty Northeastern prep-school fare played by guys named Thurston. It has always been a blood sport. Cherokees played it to the death on fields that encompassed hundreds of acres. The town of Ball Ground, Ga., for example, got its name because it was a lacrosse field until President Jackson herded the Cherokees to Oklahoma at gunpoint. At various points in history the balls were made of wood and stone and deadly concussions were not uncommon. Even with pads and helmets, this isn’t lawn bowling. The best college lacrosse player of all time is NFL legend Jim Brown, who played at Syracuse, and who still says lacrosse is tougher than football.

According to Cerino, the game is resurging, especially in the Southeast. “It is the fastest growing sport at the high-school level,” he said. “It is nationally televised every week on ESPN U. And it’s one of few money-making championships in the NCAA. Over 50,000 people attend championship weekend.”

Limestone will likely be one of those teams fans get to see on championship week. Unlike March Madness, the NCAA runs all three of its lacrosse championships, Division I, II and III during the same weeks on the same field. So fans might watch the Division I quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, and the Division II semifinals on Saturday, followed by the Division III championship game on Sunday – all on the same field.

“It is a unique situation to our sport,” Cerino said. “And it generates a lot of interest and excitement.”

It has certainly helped raise Limestone’s profile. On a 59-player roster there is only one from South Carolina, two from Georgia and one from Texas. But they have 20 New Yorkers, 17 players from Maryland, as well as some from Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, a couple from Canada and two from Australia. All say they knew about Limestone because of its strong lacrosse tradition, a reputation that is better known in Queensland and South Perth than perhaps nearby Greenville or Columbia.

“The name of the program is huge in lacrosse circles,” said Jason Brammall, a junior midfielder from Greensborough, Australia. “I had no idea where I was going when I signed, but I knew the program. I’d never been here, never been to South Carolina, but I signed and came straight into the season. I love it here.”

That is a sentiment echoed by most of the Northeastern transplants who came to Limestone to play lacrosse at a championship level in an area of the country where nobody owns a snow-blower.

“I knew that it was a big athletic school, and I knew that the lacrosse team was most of the school, but that wasn’t the only deal for me,” said senior defenseman Matt Pinder from Centreville, Md. “I saw them in the national championship, and knew that I wanted to be a part of that. I thought it was a little strange, because it was in the South, but when I got here I realized that most of the team was made up of Maryland guys, so we had a lot in common. The tradition here is great.”

For those still confused by seeing the words “lacrosse,” “tradition” and “Gaffney” in the same sentence, know that the biggest recruiters to Limestone are the alumni who bang the drum for Coach Cerino loudly and often.

Brendan Storrier, an attacker from Lafayette, N.Y, said, “The alumni keep us going. They come back and are a big part of the group. It’s not like a group where once you get out, you’re out. They keep in touch with us and come to the games. We’re really a close family. When we played at Adelphi, I guess there were 50 alumni there. That makes it a great atmosphere.”

Cerino milks that atmosphere. During last year’s NCAA tournament, the coach compiled all the e-mails he’d gotten from past players and bound them into a book, which he gave out prior to the first-round game. “It was them telling us how much they support us, and telling stories of what they went through when they had big games,” said Mike Piccin, a defenseman from Agawam, Mass. “That really made us feel good, knowing they’re out there supporting us like that.”

Accompanying the support are great expectations. Limestone entered the Conference Carolinas championship undefeated and with no serious challengers. But as Storrier put it, “We know we have to get better to take on the best teams in the country. We’re getting there, but we can’t let our guard down, not if we want to get to the Final Four.”

And that is the ultimate goal, not just for the players but for everyone at Limestone.

According to sports information director Leah Melichar, “My fiancé and I planned our wedding around the Final Four, so they better make it.” She said it with a smile, but for the little school in Gaffney looking to slay giants, nothing about it is a joke. SU