Treasure Coast Education
5 STUDENT ATHLETES OF INTEREST
65
playing tennis, she was ranked the
No. 1 girl in Florida age 10 and under.
“I played a lot with Andrew
Butz, but I don’t think I ever beat
him,” she says. Butz, from Vero
Beach, was the top ranked tennis
player 18 and under last year in
Florida.
Introduced to lacrosse as a sixth-
grader at Gifford Middle School,
Leffew was hooked. “They had a
team. I made it and I really liked it.
It was something new,” she says. She would later run cross-
country her first two years in high school.
Asked about the secret to her success at lacrosse, Leffew has
a simple, humble response. “I just hustle a lot and I am feisty.”
The opportunity to travel and play for the XTEAM has
opened up new doors while helping Leffew improve her
skills. “The coaches are amazing,” she says. They teach us
not just lacrosse skills, but life skills. They have really helped
me excel.”
Leffew’s typical day begins at 6 a.m. She goes to school,
practices, gets home by 6 p.m. and on to homework. Yet in
her spare time she enjoys three new hobbies: painting, drawing
and boxing.
“Jennifer is a unique individual,” says coach Dean. “I’ve
seen her progress. She’s very free-spirited. She likes to have
her own way. She likes to take the path less traveled.”
“As a teacher and a parent, I see the qualities in Jennifer
that I would like my own daughters to have – humility,
selflessness and a great sense of humor. She is a genuine
pleasure to have in my class and know as a person,” says AP
teacher Olsson.
Name: Jennifer Leffew
Age: 17
School: Vero Beach High
School
GPA: 3.85 unweighted
Family: father, Jim; mother,
Suzanne; brothers, Jim Jr.
and Jake.
Greatest athletic
accomplishment: “Being
number one in the state in tennis for 10 and under. I was
the only girl who made the soccer team in seventh grade at
Gifford Middle School. Making the Vero lacrosse team as a
freshman and starting.”
What inspires me: “My older brother, because he is one of
the hardest workers I have ever seen. When I was growing
up I looked up to him because he was a sports junkie and he
worked hard at everything. He was always practicing. That
inspired me to work hard. My parents inspire me because of
all the time they have put in to me and my brother so we can
have really great opportunities.”
Plans after high school: “To go to whatever college I end
up committing to, playing lacrosse, and I want to study the
premed track because I want to be a pediatric dentist or a
dermatologist.”