from jacksonville.com

If sophomores Kaili Torres or Annie Bobbitt end up one-on-one with a defender in today's Class 2A state semifinal in Tampa, any coach who's played the St. Johns Country Day girls soccer team could guess what will probably happen next - a goal.

Unfortunately for West Palm Beach King's Academy (22-4), the same could also be said of freshman Carson Pickett and eighth-grader Mallory Bane.

All four players won high school track state titles last season, and they don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

"Varsity [soccer] is such a fast-paced game," said Bane, who won the Class 1A 800-meter run last season. "You have to have speed to play it."

And the Spartans have plenty. Torres, Bobbitt and Pickett make up three-fourths of St. Johns Country Day's 4x400-meter relay team that has won back-to-back state titles.

Spartans defender Justine Quick was the fourth member of the 2007 state-champion relay.

"Whether we're on a track or the soccer field, I know we're going to push each other," said Torres, who's second on the team with 17 goals and 26 assists. "We're so competitive, so we make each other faster."

That speed has helped the Spartans (21-2-2) burn plenty of defenses this season.

SJCD has outscored its opponents 126-9 en route to its sixth consecutive state-semifinal appearance. Pickett leads the team with 25 goals and 27 assists.

But the Spartans' middle-distance track titles also speak to their endurance. They can elude defenses just as well at the end of 80 minutes as they can at the beginning.

"It's a lot different, because 400 [meters] is so much longer than you would run in a regular... [soccer match]," said Bobbitt, who's scored 16 goals this season. "You would run a 40-yard sprint in soccer, but in track, a 400 is a lot longer."

Quick, a long jump state champion, has also translated skills from that event to soccer.

"The long jump, it actually helps ... because I have to head the ball a lot [as a defender], so getting up and being able to time everything ... [helps]," said Quick, who has signed to play for the University of Central Florida.

Spartans coach Mike Pickett said soccer skills like those, as much as speed, will make the difference for his team, now that SJCD has reached another final four. The Spartans won titles in 2005 and 2007.

"Obviously, it helps to be fast, but as we progress into this run, we're going to have to be able to play soccer," Pickett said. "When you get down there, everyone's going to be fast, so then it becomes more important what you do with the ball.

"It [speed] helps," he added, "but you don't have to be a speedy player to be a good soccer player."

Much to his opponents' dismay, Pickett has a roster full of both.