Soccer, Track & Field, Softball
Favorite athlete: Tyrese Maxey
Favorite team: Philadelphia Sixers
Favorite memory: Having the chance to go to states at Penn State during the indoor track season for shotput
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was younger, I was playing a soccer game when I was pushed, then tripped over the ball hitting my head on the ground and blacking out for a couple seconds. I woke up forgetting it happened and wanting to play again
Music on playlist: My music is a mix of everything with many artists and genres ranging from rap, country, R&B, pop and eras of throwbacks
Future plans: I plan on attending Temple University to major in communications and possibly double majoring in music technology
Words to live by: “Live every day as if it’s your last with no regrets.”
One goal before turning 30: Have a career in sports broadcasting or have a hit song on the billboard charts
One thing people don’t know about me: I taught myself how to play three different instruments which are guitar, ukulele and drums.
By Mary Jane Souder
Trinity Lucas is part of a very rare breed of athletes who somehow manage to squeeze four sports into three seasons. There’s no denying the Quakertown senior’s athletic ability, but talk to any one of her coaches, and that’s not the first thing they’ll mention when her name comes up in conversation.
“Trinity is just one of the coolest kids I’ve ever coached and probably the most liked player by virtually everyone in the program,” Quakertown softball coach Dave Scott said. “She’s the ultimate team player and is a great team leader who is liked but also respected by the younger players. Trinity is a great role model for the younger players in the program.”
“Trinity is a great kid,” Quakertown soccer coach Mike Koch said. “She has a care and concern for other people that really shows through, and that’s what makes her really likable, and she just has that kind of easygoing attitude with it.”
“She’s a neat kid,” Quakertown track coach Jason Anderson said. “She’s definitely someone who’s enjoying life and doing whatever she can to get everything out of it.”
Anderson goes on to recount a scene he witnessed at the Haverford Invitational when Lucas was waiting to compete in her event – the shot put - earlier this spring.
“We were at the shot put circle, and this little girl comes up and said, ‘Does anyone have any lip balm?’” the Panthers’ track coach said. “Trinity takes out her lip balm and says, ‘Here you go.’
“They’re joking around, the girl takes a little bit, and I was like, ‘My gosh, I’d never be that easygoing.’ Here’s Trinity who’s about to win the event, and here’s this little girl who’s going to throw half the distance.
“I would think someone of Trinity’s caliber might (not in so many words) be like, ‘Yeah, get away from me,’ but no, she’s very helpful, very nice, very accommodating. First of all, to approach
someone to ask for lip balm – Trinity is not huge, but she’s definitely a formidable athlete, so the vibe she gives off is worth mentioning. She’s accessible, she’s very coachable.”
And she’s also very organized because it’s in the spring that Lucas somehow manages to handle two sports – softball and track and field.
“I just try and organize it,” Lucas said matter-of-factly. “I literally have this whiteboard calendar I’ve written out my games and my track meets and days I’m able to split up practices.
“I have my own shot put, so if I can’t make it to practice that day, I’ll still take the time to go out and throw on my own time.”
Lucas, who has already qualified for districts in shot put, is coming off an indoor track and field season that saw her finish eighth at the indoor state meet at Penn State. Her softball coach is more than happy to make sure things work out for both sports.
“If she said, ‘Hey listen, I have a meet coming up or a qualifier for districts, I’m good with that,” Scott said. “She does what she needs to do, and that’s how she’s able to do it.
“If you asked her, I bet she would say ‘I love all three.’ She loves soccer, she loves track, she loves softball. I don’t know if she considers one over the other.”
******
Trinity Lucas is a military kid.
She never spent a whole lot of time in one place until her family landed in Quakertown when Lucas was in eighth grade. She was born in California and – before Pennsylvania - lived in North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina and New York.
“I feel like it was a good thing for me because it made me open up more,” Lucas said. “I was really shy growing up. I moved every three years, so I would have to make new friends, join new teams.
“It made me become more of an open and outgoing person. It kind of helped me in life because I was able to adapt to things quickly.”
Sports have been part of her life for as long as she can remember, beginning with soccer when she was five years old. Softball entered the picture when she was in fifth grade, but track was a very late entry her sophomore year at Quakertown.
“My parents did sports when they were younger,” Lucas said. “My mom did basketball and track and my dad played some soccer. They put me in soccer when I was younger, and I just loved it from the beginning.”
She began track at the encouragement of her friends.
“I was like – ‘I always did want to do shot put. I should try it,’ so I went out and tried it and liked it and then over the years I’ve gotten better at it,” Lucas said.
That’s an understatement.
Last year, Lucas was throwing 28 feet. Her personal record this year is 37-10.
“She was not a standout when she first started,” Anderson said. “It’s really just her athleticism – she’s strong. She really put in a lot of training time, specifically strength training, technical training.
“Trinity just seems to be so explosive and so natural. We’ve given her a couple of things to tweak. She’s just intuitive. She has some experience throwing but not a lot. She’s put a lot of it together herself. It’s really like she’s a self-made athlete. It’s so neat, and she fits in so well with my team.”
Lucas has high aspirations and has set a goal to compete in shot put at Temple where she will enroll this fall.
“I know the track coach said if I hit 40 with shot put that would be the ultimate chance to do track there,” she said. “There are a lot of good throwers out there. My goal now is hitting 40, which would be amazing.”
******
Lucas – who competed on the club circuit for both soccer and softball - was a member of the varsity soccer team since she was a sophomore.
“She’s really, really tenacious,” Koch said of his senior forward. “She an absolute battler on the soccer field. I suspect whatever sport she plays she’d be in the same way and just that same intensity. She’s definitely a team-first person – always puts the team first. She was a really good leader for us this year and was really good with the underclassmen.
“She’s a hardworking player and scored some goals for us. Even if she isn’t scoring goals, she’s always putting people under pressure. She can really kick the ball. She hit some of our restarts. She’s strong, and she’s really fast. We’re talking about three sports, so I guess it’s obvious, but I suspect if she had picked any other sport to play, she would have had success as well.”
No one would have questioned Lucas if she had walked away from softball. After all, her future is in track and field. Lucas – who has been part of the varsity for three years - never considered that option.
“I really enjoying being there for the team,” she said. “It’s still a fun experience even though I’m not getting the playing time.
“I always was (courtesy or pinch) running, so I still had some type of job on the field, whether it was being in the dugout and watching the other team or in helping out my own teammates.”
Lucas was in the starting lineup in the Panthers’ recent win over Abington and was 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored.
“That’s what’s cool about Trinity – she very much understands her role,” Scott said. “She is the first off the bench for courtesy runners, pinch runners. If I need a stolen base somewhere, she’s going to come out and get it for me.
“She also plays multiple positions, so she can play short, she can play third, she can play first She’s a great safety net to have if someone gets hurt. I’m sure she’d want to play more than she does, but she understands her value. I’ve called her out multiple times in front of the team as far as her role and the good things she does for us when she does her role.”
For Lucas, the opportunity to compete in sports is an experience she wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
“It helps to be more a part of the community and helps me grow as a person because you get to become friends with everyone in all different grades that you wouldn’t think you’d become friends with before that,” she said.
Lucas – in addition to competing in sports - is involved in numerous clubs, including Mini-THON, Best Buddies, Q Rock and class council. An excellent student, her course load includes three AP classes.
She also competes in club soccer and softball outside of school and plays several instruments.
“Growing up, my grandfather would always sing and play guitar when I would go over,” Lucas said. “I always enjoyed it, so I was like, ‘Oh, I really want to pick up the guitar.’ Over time, I started to pick up the drums and the ukulele because I thought it was really fun to do something connected with music.”
At Temple, Lucas will major in communication and media studies with her sights set on becoming a sports broadcaster.
“If I do get to do sports broadcasting, I do want to do Philly sports because it’s what I enjoy most,” she said. “I know Temple has a really great program.”
Lucas has not ruled out playing soccer at the collegiate level and will be attending a soccer camp at Temple later this month, but competing in shot put seems to be within her grasp.
“We know a couple of (Temple) coaches, and we’re like, ‘Gosh, you really could be a D-1 athlete,’” Anderson said. “I’m super hopeful.
“She went to states last year for softball and then made it to states again this year by herself in shot put for track. She’s been fantastic. She’s already deep into the district rankings, so she’s made districts and dares to dream what could happen later on.”
