A Memorable Day for Leopard Sisters

They don’t recall the exact date, but Tara King and Dawn Quinn certainly remember the day.

After all, how many times do two sisters win state championships for the same high school? In two different sports? On the same date? Records aren’t kept on that sort of thing, but it’s fair to say that what Dawn and Tara accomplished on that late May day in 1984 was, at the very least, rare.

They were the Edwards sisters back then and they shared roles in one of the most remarkable days in the storied history of Hernando High athletics. Tara, then a Hernando junior, won a state track championship in the high jump. Dawn was a sophomore infielder on a Hernando High softball team that won the state championship.

“I think it hit me as the softball team was about to win,” said Monte Edwards, Dawn and Tara’s father. “I realized I had two daughters winning state championships on the same day. How often does that happen?”

Not very often. It was a magical day for the Edwards family, Brooksville and Hernando High. And a bit challenging for Monte and his wife, Anne. They don’t remember exactly how the choice was made on who would attend which event. The track state championships were held in Winter Park. The softball championship game was in Brooksville.

“I’m guessing my parents did what they always did,” Dawn said. “They used to say, ‘Okay, who went to Dawn’s last game and who went to Tara’s last track meet?’ Then, they would switch up.”

However, it was decided, Anne and John Gaylord Edwards,’ Monte’s father, drove to the Orlando suburbs to watch Tara. Monte stayed in Brooksville to watch the softball game.

It all took place within a matter of a few hours. But Tara’s state championship came a little earlier and her grandfather might have been the first to realize what happened. All season long, Tara had been consistent, if not spectacular. Five feet, four inches was her normal best and she cleared all three jumps at that height. The other finalist also cleared 5-4 once. They both attempted jumps of 5-6, but neither was successful.

Without fanfare, Tara won the state championship because her opponent hadn’t cleared 5-4 on all her jumps. Tara realized it immediately, but most of the crowd did not.

“It’s kind of an insider thing with track and not everyone knew how it worked,” Tara said. “My mom really had no clue. But my grandfather realized it and turned to my mom and said, ‘Tara just won a state championship.'”

It didn’t take long for word to spread. Even in the days before cell phones, word of Tara’s championship reached Brooksville — and the softball field — almost immediately.

“They stopped the softball game and the announcer came on and said, ‘Tara Edwards has just won the state championship in the high jump,'” Dawn recounted. “I just remember everyone being so happy. It was a very close-knit group. Tara had lots of friends on the softball team and we were all overjoyed for her…”

Overjoyed, but perhaps even more, motivated. Coached by the legendary Tom Varn and an effervescent young assistant named Timmy Jinkens, the Leopards put the finishing touches on their state softball title.

“It was a very intense game,” Dawn said. “I really think Tara’s state championship inspired us. We were all like, ‘Tara did it, now we’ve got to get it done’ It was probably harder for Tara because she was in an individual sport. Softball was a team game and we all kind of fed off of each other. In those days, Hernando High just groomed all their sports teams for excellence. You were part of the legacy from the moment you stepped into it and you were expected to be very good.”

That part hit Monte in the middle of it all.

“I was very much into the softball game and I was stunned when they made the announcement about Tara,” Monte said. “When they announced it, I remember I was walking behind the bleachers — probably feeding my face — and they said Tara won. I was thrilled and proud, but I hustled back to the bleachers because the softball game was just starting to get good.”

After the Leopards won, Dawn and her teammates celebrated on the field. After that, the Hernando team posed for pictures for what seemed like hours to Dawn.

In the meantime, Tara, Anne and John Gaylord Edwards made the trek back over State Road 50 — then minus all those now-pesky traffic lights in Clermont — and headed for the family homestead.

“We had no idea if the softball team won or not until we got home,” Tara said. “After that, we celebrated. I don’t remember anything specific about it, but I just remember the enormous excitement among all of us. I remember that we were all talking over each other and trying to tell our stories about what happened that day. We were all very loud.”

The athletic excellence was far from over. After finishing fourth in the state high jump as a senior, Tara earned a track and ROTC scholarship to Ole Miss and was part of the inaugural Rebels women’s track team.

Dawn, who also excelled in volleyball at Hernando, went on to play that sport and softball at Mississippi College and Florida Atlantic. She also had a one-year stint with the Apopka Diamonds of the short-lived Women’s Professional Baseball League.

“Dawn was actually a better softball player in college than she was in high school,” Monte said. “In those days, Hernando played slow-pitch softball. In college, she played fast pitch. She wasn’t very big or powerful. But she was fast and she had good hand-eye coordination. She was much better suited to fast pitch.”

After college, Tara became an Army officer and was stationed in Germany, where she met her husband, Peter, who was also an Army officer. After the service, they eventually settled in Stillwater, Minnesota. They have four children. Tara, 56, runs a foundation for children with intellectual disabilities and development challenges.

Dawn, 55, and her husband ended up in Pensacola and, together, run an insurance agency. The sisters remain close. They also remain athletic. Tara runs or walks several miles every day and frequently speaks with Dawn on the phone when her pace allows.

Dawn speaks enthusiastically about her new-found sport — pickleball. She and her partner recently qualified to play for the national doubles championship.

Monte and Anne, who also had sons Monte Jr. and Sean in the same four-and-half-year span in which Dawn and Tara were born, are back in Brooksville.
“I’m very proud of the fact that all four of them played sports very well,” Monte said. “But I’m even more proud of the fact all four of them were always very close and still are very close.”

When the Edwards family gathers or speaks on the phone these days, the conversation is usually focused on Monte and Anne’s grandchildren. But, every now and then, there’s a fond mention of that very special day back in 1984. “It was just such an exciting day,” Tara said. “It was just such a Brooksville moment.”

Tara and Dawn are both members of the Hernando High Athletic Hall of Fame.