Waking up at 5:30 in the morning for water polo practice may seem like a daunting task to many. However, for Frances Applegarth, it’s just part of her daily routine.

According to Frances, “Yes, it is difficult to have to wake up so early, but it’s just one of those things that I have to do.” She can easily just hit the snooze button and go back to sleep in the comforts of her bed. However, she wakes up and heads to the TL pool every school day for a brutal morning practice.

Applegarth, a Junior at Terra Linda, is the starting goalie for the Girl’s Varsity Water Polo team. On September 20, 2016 the Girls Water Polo team faced off against a very talented Redwood High School team. The final score of the game was 5-2 Redwood. Although the Trojans fell short, Applegarth still managed to have quite an impressive game by hauling in 14 saves. This performance was enough to earn her the title of MaxPreps Player of the Game.

When asked about the game, Applegarth stated, “As a team we had a really good game despite our loss. I felt that I was able to motivate my team with my saves.” As the goalie of the team, Applegarth plays a huge role in motivating her team. She claims that being a goalkeeper in soccer is the reason for why she is such an effective goalie in water polo.

“She’s a great goalie. It’s like she’s made of rock, the balls just hit her and are stopped short of the goal,” said Silvia Alfonso, one of Applegarth’s teammates.

Reflecting on last season, Applegarth truly believes that the team has grown tremendously. When asked about what her goals for the season were, she said, “Put everything on the table and try to see how far we can get this season. Maybe make it to the MCAL Playoffs.”

She also receives high praise from her teammate, Senior Elena Cavender, who stated, “Frances encourages the team to not get caught up when people are playing dirty or aggressively. She’s a really good leader and definitely the most valuable player on our team.”

Frances does not plan on playing at the collegiate level for water polo. However, if given the opportunity, she would definitely consider it. With all the hard work that Applegarth and the water polo team are putting in day in and day out, we should not be surprised to see them competing in the MCAL playoffs or even in the NCS playoffs.

Congratulations to Frances Applegarth on being Terra Linda’s Female Athlete of the Week, as well as being the MaxPreps Player of the Game against Redwood on September 20th.