Towne Athlete Meet

TOWNE ATHLETE

Taylor & Tracy Grollman

Annapolis Area Christian School Lacrosse

By Tom Worgo

Sisters Taylor and Tracy Grollman have done so much together for their entire lives. They attended the same schools and played on the same sports teams. The Grollmans, recent Annapolis Area Christian School graduates, planned on sticking together for college at least at first, and they agreed on a first choice: the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island. That would have given them a chance to prepare for military careers and play lacrosse.

THEY ARE SISTERS ON AND OFF THE FIELD. THEY HAVE THIS CONNECTION.”

“For a while, we thought we were both going to the academy and we were super happy and super fine with that,” Taylor explains. But their plans changed when they decided to take a look at other schools that were aggressively recruiting them. And that ended with both of them having a change of heart.

Tracy will attend Eastern Michigan this fall, and Taylor will go off to Temple. Both earned athletic scholarships and Taylor also has a ROTC scholarship.

“That’s the thing that will be the most difficult and the most rewarding, that I won’t have her by my side,” Tracy says. “We have different friends, and we need to build off that and see where it takes us. We will still be together sometimes, love each other, and be best friends. We will have our own lives. I am excited for that.”

One of the reasons the sisters had interest in the Merchant Marine Academy was because of their family’s strong military tradition. They have 10 relatives who are either currently in the military or have served in the past. Six family members served in wars including the Grollman’s Grandfather Paul Petzrick (Navy, Vietnam), Uncle Paul, Jr. (Marines, First Persian Gulf), Uncle Ernest (Navy, second Gulf War), Ernest’s wife Kelly Petzrick (Navy, second Gulf War), and the twin’s older sister Stephanie’s husband Martin Barker (Marines, Afghanistan).

“Growing up, I would always hear stories from my grandfather about his time in service,” says Taylor, who wants to be an Army chaplain or flight nurse. “I was also able to see my cousin go through flight school and how he just loves military life. Having a career serving others is something I would just love.”

Tracy plans to serve in the Maryland National Guard. “Tracy wants to protect the state,” the Grollman’s mother Amy says. “She wants to do part-time and she realized how hard it was for her cousin being aboard a ship for six months. She is like, ‘I don’t think I want to be away from my family like that.’”

Before the twins enter the military, they will focus on college. And both think their respective schools are ideal fits for them. “Temple is in the heart of the city and one of the things I love most about the campus,” says Taylor, a goalie who is interested in majoring in cybersecurity. “I also feel the coaching staff at Temple will take me to the next level.”

Tracy, a forward, will major in sports management at Eastern Michigan. In high school, she carried a 3.94 grade-point average, which was almost identical to Taylor’s (3.95).

“The coach reached out to me and said, ‘I would you to be part of our first class of players,’” Tracy recalls. “That’s something I have always enjoyed. We started our club team (Pure Lacrosse Club).”

Good luck to AACS Girls Lacrosse Coach Bob Steinau replacing the twins in his lineup. Tracy and Taylor both earned all-conference and all-county honors in their careers. Tracy finished her career with 122 goals in four years as a starter, including a team-leading 45 as a senior. The 5-foot-2 Tracy scored a career-high six goals in a regular-season game against Mercy this spring. “She had incredible stick skills,” Steinau says. “Although she is not the biggest player out there, she was fearless going to the goal.”

Meanwhile, the 5-foot-7 Taylor was like a vacuum in the goal. During her sophomore season, the net minder made 19 or more saves in nine games. Taylor says her best performance this spring was a 15-save effort against Park School.

“She was a perfectionist,” Steinau says. “She would work every day to figure out her weaknesses and how she could improve on them. She was a great leader of our defense and like another coach on the field.”

Steinau calls it a challenge for the twins to be without each other on the field. “It will be a big adjustment,” he says. “They are sisters on and off the field. They have this connection. They are not going to have their sister in college, either on the ride home to talk about the game or school. They are always going to talk, but it’s going to be totally different for them.”

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