- December 28, 2024
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Seabreeze soccer player Kirsten Glaenzer (center) supports the team at games and practice even though she has not been able to play her senior season due to a stress fracture. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze three-sport athlete Kirsten Glaenzer. Photo by Michele Meyers
Kirsten Glaenzer (center) and fellow AVID students (from left to right) Mckenzie Bingham, Rylie Dieter, Dylan Oliver (back), Toni Phillips and Isabella Biondi listen to guest speaker Keylin Tishler at Seabreeze High School. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze student Kirsten Glaenzer (center) joins AVID teacher Katie Marriott (left), guest speaker Keylin Tishler (second from right) and fellow students for a photo op after class. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Seabreeze 4x800 meter relay team — Nickole Dane (left), Arianna Roy, Mackenzie Roy and Kirsten Glaenzer (right) — celebrates after placing fifth at the 2023 Class 3A state track championships. Photo by Michele Meyers
Kirsten Glaenzer passes the baton to Arianna Roy in the 4x800 relay at the Class 3A State Championship. Seabreeze placed fifth in the event. Photo by Michele Meyers
Kirsten Glaenzer (second from right) supports her soccer teammates (from left to right) Kaylee Goebel, Campbell Meyer, Madison Opalewski and Clover Milatzo-Reiff during the game against Spruce Creek. Photo by Michele Meyers
Seabreeze senior Kirsten Glaenzer decided to become a three-sport athlete by running cross country her last year in high school. She figured it would enhance her fitness for her other sports.
“Cross country is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she said. “It’s so mental. Personally, I’m not a very long distance runner, but it really taught me to push myself. I loved my team and that really helped.”
Glaenzer’s goal was to make it to the state cross country championships in November in Tallahassee. Pre-season soccer practice started in October so she pushed herself to run six miles at cross country practice then head over to the soccer fields. She said she began to experience pain in her left leg but did not want to get behind in her sports so continued to run. She was eventually diagnosed with a stress fracture in her fibula. She was on crutches when the district meet for cross country happened.
“It’s been one of the hardest things especially being injured my senior year,” she said. “They are starting indoor season for track and it’s hard because I’m missing out on it. Especially soccer, this is my last year playing and I might not get to play again with my team. I keep telling my team that it just matters so much this year — to work their hardest. I’m trying to keep everyone uplifted.”
Seabreeze girls soccer coach Eli Freidus has had Glaenzer on his team for four years. He said she has always been a hard worker and never missed practice. When she found out she would not be able to play, she never stopped attending practices and games.
“She is the world’s nicest kid,” he said. “She is the sweetest kid in the world. Always smiling — never negative. That’s just who she is. It’s in her DNA. She is everybody’s favorite kid.”
Freidus said Glaenzer is a team leader and involved in every discussion. This season, there are nine freshmen on the varsity soccer squad. Glaenzer was not always available to attend pre-season fitness training due to the demands of cross country but always made sure to stop by to meet her young teammates and help them feel comfortable.
“I was really impressed with how she just kept trucking through the setbacks that she has had this year,” Freidus said. “It would have been easy for her to feel sorry for herself and just go away but she never did. When she found out she wasn’t going to be able to play, she was very emotional, but later that day she came to practice. She is there helping in any way she can — every day.”
Former soccer teammates Arianna and Mackenzie Roy convinced Glaenzer to try out for track her sophomore year. The team placed fifth at the state championships in the 4x800 meter relay.
It would have been easy for her to feel sorry for herself and just go away but she never did. When she found out she wasn’t going to be able to play, she was very emotional, but later that day she came to practice. She is there helping in any way she can — every day.
— ELI FREIDUS, Seabreeze girls soccer coach
Seabreeze track and field coach Matt Coleman said he worked with Glaenzer’s mother, Stephanie Glaenzer, at Pathways Elementary School where he is a third grade teacher. Stephanie currently works at Deltona Middle School as the assistant principal for ESE. Kirsten's father, Kurt Glaenzer, is a Florida Highway Patrol State Trooper.
“She is the epitome of what you want in a high school athlete,” Coleman said Kirsten. “She works hard, supports others and knows what she wants.”
Last year, she ran her best times at the District 6-3A track meet in the 400 meters (1:03.35) and 800 meters (2:31.19) placing fifth and fourth, respectively. At regionals, she finished 18th and 14th.
Coleman said Glaenzer is focused on making it to states her final season. He said she has also been actively talking to college coaches about running track on the next level. She has had offers from Morehead State University in Kentucky and Saint Bonaventure in New York State. Due to the cost of out-of-state tuition, Glaenzer said she is looking closer to her Ormond Beach home even though her dream school is the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
“I love to surf and hike and be outside and it’s so gorgeous there,” she said.
Glaenzer and her mom backpacked 65 miles through the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon last summer. Kirsten said she must get her love for traveling from her mom. She wants to get a business marketing degree in college and work online so she can travel the world.
“Traveling is so important because it shows you how small you are in the world,” she said. “I want to learn from different people. I love meeting different people. That’s my favorite thing.”
For four years, Glaenzer has been in Seabreeze’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. This year she is taking honors classes and is dual enrolled at Daytona State College. As soon as her college and high school GPAs merge, she will begin applying to colleges. Florida Atlantic University and Coastal Carolina University have already given her times to hit in order for her to make their track teams.
“Whether Kirsten makes it to states or not is not what I will remember about her,” Coleman said. “The same thing goes whether she becomes a college running legend or not. Her overall attitude, positive outlook on life and ability to cohesively work with a team is what I will always cherish about my time coaching her in high school.”
