Lambert high school varsity girls soccer coach Scott Luthart put it simply when asked what has allowed the Longhorn athletic program to be successful for so many years.
“WPFM, that stands for We Play For May,” said coach Luthart. “Our athletic director started that mantra before the spring season began this year and the teams bought into it.”
Longhorn athletic director Drew Ferrer who first introduced the slogan was right. The Longhorn program fielded 11 teams in the Spring season with nine reaching the GHSA playoffs and advancing at least two rounds and five earning runner-up honors, while the varsity boys lacrosse team brought home its fifth championship.
“I can’t stress enough the friendly competitive nature of it all. All the programs here strive to make each other better,” said varsity boys lacrosse coach Joshua Sagel. “There’s a healthy competitiveness and coach Ferrer has really fostered it.”
The boys and girls soccer and tennis teams all lost in the championship and earned runner-up honors. The girls lacrosse team and varsity baseball team fell in the Elite 8 round. Both boys and girls golf qualified for the state championship with the girls winning the second championship for Lambert this spring for their seventh title in eight years.
The girls had four golfers finish in the top five for individual championships: Averi Cline (1), Sara Im (2), Iris Cao (3) and Sharon Mun (5). The boys had one player place in the top-five, Myles Jones who tied fourth place with a +1 score through two rounds.
“For our athletes to go play in a playoff game then turn around the next night and cheer on their peers in a different playoff game for another sport is really special,” added Sagel.
Although the spring season doesn’t start until January, the Longhorn athletes begin their respective seasons in the Summer and work out all through the Fall semester and coach Ferrer is to thank for that. The spring teams in large part, play together through the Summer as well.
“He [Ferrer] knows that Lambert comes first and allows us to stay together through the Summer and keeps all the facilities open,” said Sagel. “Having someone who has your back and doesn’t demand anything in return makes our lives a whole lot easier.”
The 2021 varsity boys lacrosse team won its fifth state championship and third in five years, but this year was special after everything all the players, coaches and everyone involved went through during the pandemic.
“I’m not taking anything away from the other championship teams because those are very special in different ways, but this year there was so much uncertainty,” said Sagel. “We didn’t have a playoff last year and we lost a lot of talent so we didn’t really know what we had coming in.”
The Longhorns boys lacrosse team finished 21-1 on a 20-game win streak and coach Sagel said his team and coaching staff fully understood not to take this game for granted and played with a sense of urgency all season because no one knew if the season would stop abruptly.
The girl’s soccer team did not lose a game until the championship to West Forysth.
“The soccer programs have had the same staff since I started here and there’s something to be said about consistently and that starts at the top,” said coach Sagel. “Our principal and athletic director continue to bring in good coaches and give them all the tools they need to be successful.”
The student-athletes at Lambert are treated like professionals, but the student side is where most of the pride comes from.
“It’s all inclusive. It even trickles down to the academic competitiveness that our students have,” said Luthart. “We have a lot of high achieving student athletes but our athletic director and principal have created a culture where there’s a healthy competition. Winning is contagious and we were very fortunate to get off to fast starts in both soccer programs.”
The student-athletes also go through rigorous conditioning for their bodies and their minds to prepare them for all types of situations thrown their way during the season and in the classroom.
“Chris [boys varsity soccer coach] and I put a lot of focus on the health of our athletes. We do a lot of mental massaging so to speak to get our athletes ready,” said coach Luthart. “We definitely challenge them but they respond well.”
“We practiced everyday so we’re in constant contact with them,” said Sagel. “But to let them know we’re looking out for them and we’re all dealing with this together as one whole program.”
Coach Luthart will be retiring and pursuing a more administrative role after nine years with the Lambert girls soccer team, a program he and coach Wilson built from the ground up when they came over together from Grayson in 2013.
In his nine years at the helm of the Lady Longhorns, Luthart has won five region championships, earned a berth to the GHSA playoffs for each of the nine years and captured two state Class 7A championships (2017, 2021). Prior to Lambert, Luthart started the boys soccer program at Grayson High School and earned them the program’s first men’s championship in the athletic program’s history (2004).
In 25 years of coaching, Luthart has earned several honors including two-time Gwinnett Coach of the Year (1998, 2004), AJC Coach of the Year (2004), NSCAA State Coach of the Year for A-4A Schools (2004), Forsyth County Coach of the Year (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017), Forsyth County News Coach of the Year (2017), NSCAA State Coach of the Year for 6A Schools (2011), and NSCAA State Coach of the Year for 7A Schools (2017).
In the last five years, the spring season has brought fifteen championships to the Longhorns.
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