TopOfTheCountry 2008: Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.)

Congratulations go to the players and coaches at Louisville Sacred Heart (Ky.), which won the 2008 Kentucky state field hockey championship with a 29-0 record.

After the Valkyries' state championship season, the team was presented with the TopOfTheCountry trophy, emblematic of the finest team in all the land.

The TopOfTheCountry trophy is four feet high, topped with a field hockey ball, representing the pinnacle of the game of field hockey in the United States.

The four different-colored columns symbolize the foundations upon which the game is built:

* The green column is for the vibrant youth field hockey culture, both in scholastic and club play;

* The navy column is for the national team program, to which all field hockey players can aspire;

* The red column symbolizes the blood and sweat of all those players and coaches who have sacrificed their time, selves, and souls for the game of field hockey; and

* The light blue column is for supporters of field hockey, whether parents, friends, or just plain fans.

Sacred Heart's season included victories over teams from five states, including victories over three sitting or future state championships. That mettle was tested in an early October tournament near Chicago, in which the team had to play Lake Forest (Ill.), St. Louis Villa Duchesne (Mo.), and Ann Arbor Pioneer (Mich.).

The tournament win capped an impressive feat: in an eight-day period, Sacred Heart Academy shut out 10 opponents in 11 victories. Indeed, had it not been for a hurricane that cut down pool play in the Sun Devil Invitational in September, Sacred Heart might have become the first team in a decade to post 30 victories in a season. The Valkyries now have an 83-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in the history of American high schools.