Lauren Luttrell impressed Frank Beamer enough with her
kicking skills in a workout last fall that the longtime Virginia Tech coach invited her back for another try this spring.
While Luttrell didn't make the team after Saturday's open tryout for kickers, the freshman from near Fredericksburg remained encouraged by her effort in an attempt to be the first female place-
kicker in Virginia Tech history.
The 10-person
kicking competition was three rounds of four kicks, with cuts after each.
Luttrell made all four of her first kicks from 20 yards, advancing with six others to the second round. The next set of kicks were from the 35. She made three of four, coming up short on one from the left hash.
"They were pretty accurate; I just didn’t have the power," Luttrell said. "So after that round he called out numbers again and I wasn’t called, which was fine, because I was happy with how I did. And I was about to walk off and [Beamer] came up to me and said, ‘Good job. Thanks for coming out.’ He was like, ‘You have the fundamentals. You have the technique. You just need the power.'"
Luttrell might give it another go at a future tryout. She's still relatively new to football, first giving it a shot in high school after an assistant coach on the soccer team saw her strong leg on corner and free kicks and suggested she try
kicking field goals. Luttrell, who stands 5-foot-9, brushed it off as a joke, but after some prodding, gave it a try. Her senior year with the Knights in 2010, she made 10 extra points and a 31-yard field goal.
