Congratulations to Kylie Rankin for being recognized as Independence Bank’s Athlete of the Week!
Kylie is a current junior at Collins High School and plays on the girls lacrosse team. She was nominated as Athlete of the Week for her outstanding performances and leadership as goalie in the early season.
Throughout the last four Titan games, Kylie earned 41 saves, making a significant difference for her team’s ability to score and be successful. Becoming an important team figure, she always makes an effort to hype up her teammates at practices, games and team events. Kylie’s grown as an impactful leader and inspires her teammates to make every practice count in order to give it their all at games.
Kylie started playing lacrosse her sophomore year of high school at age 16. She decided to join lacrosse because she had always been interested in the sport and was willing to give it a try. With only a year of experience under her belt, Kylie demonstrates skill and pure talent at every game.
She’s a fast learner and remarkable to watch on the field. Kylie is a prime example of the effects of hard work, commitment and sportsmanship. Any athlete can perform well with a strong mindset and dedication, regardless of experience. Her responsibility as goalie is to watch the game and be prepared for efficient blocks to prevent the opposing team from scoring.
“My job is to stop the shots that the other team takes and hopefully catch the ball and clear it for my team,” Kylie said.
As a student-athlete, Kylie balances homework, practice, games and work. She goes above and beyond to further herself as a student-athlete and gives 100% to everything she does.
Despite maintaining a busy schedule, Kylie makes sure to get plenty of rest and eat a good meal before her games to perform her best.
Knowing that she couldn’t be the athlete she is today without support, Kylie would like to thank her teammates and family for encouraging her to play lacrosse. She explains that she wasn’t even planning on playing lacrosse this year if it weren’t for her brother and close friends.
Kylie believes that returning to lacrosse was one of the best decisions she’s made, reflecting on all the opportunities she would have missed if she hadn’t been convinced to rejoin the team. “I wasn’t initially planning on playing again this year, but my teammates and also my brother encouraged me to keep playing, and I’m glad that they did,” Kylie said.
As an upperclassman, Kylie offers valuable advice to be supportive of young or new players. She believes that the younger generation of players must be taught good sportsmanship in order to replace seniors when they graduate. “We lost a lot of our seniors this year, but in return we got a lot of new players,” Kylie said. “I’m so proud of everyone! Everyone works hard at practice and has come so far since they first started.”
