VERO BEACH — With the top-ranked Vero Beach High School girls’ lacrosse team preparing to defend its state title next week, the school board has accepted terms of an agreement with the Florida High School Athletic Association to return the 2009 championship trophy and play its games in state for the next three years.The Indian River County School Board voted Tuesday afternoon to accede to the demands of the FHSSA, which include paying $11,000 in fines to end the legal wrangling after the team was temporarily disqualified from last year’s tournament. The FHSSA ruled the team had played too many games out of state. The team claimed by combining varsity and junior varsity games the school had met the travel restrictions.Player Courtney Swan won an injunction that allowed her team to continue to play in last year’s tournament. The team went on to the state title. The School Board later joined the suit.With the matter settled, the undefeated Indians can now turn their attention to winning another state title when post-season play begins next week. The team is currently on an out of state trip playing top teams from the mid-Atlantic region.The Indians were recently ranked No. 1 in the country by laxpower.com.
