By Nate Perez

Many high school athletes dream about taking their game to the next level. Audrey Frost was one of those typical high school athletes. Her sport is lacrosse and it has been her sport for six years. Her excitement about playing at the collegiate level was soon erased after creation of a team at Quincy University was put on hold.

“I was so ready to take the game to the next level,” Frost said. “I think the financial shortcomings are the reasons behind the lack of the program.”

In October QU announced that it was expecting A $5 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year. While QU had yet to find a head coach for the women’s team, the men’s coach had been announced, but left QU to pursue other opportunities.

For months she wondered what the fate of her team would be until in December when she was told that there would likely not be a team.

If QU would have joined Division II, they would have likely had to have joined the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Other schools in the GLVC have lacrosse such as Rockhurst University and University of Indianapolis, but they are forced to join different leagues as women’s lacrosse is not provided by the conference.

Many athletes will attest that being away from their sport for at least a year and then jumping back into it is not easy. More so a sport that requires teamwork.

“Although I’ve been working out on my own, the lack in a sense of a team made it harder to persevere,” Frost said.

She does plan on moving on from Quincy to continue her lacrosse career.

“I do plan on playing in the future and I am in contact with other schools,” Frost said.

Frosts trying to make the most out of her time while she is away from her game.

“I saw as a gateway to staying in shape and creating lifelong relationships along the way with an added discipline,” Frost said.