Megan White is the recipient of our most prestigious award
3KRWRE\'DYLG-HQQLQJVRI-HQQLQJV3KRWRJUDSK\ZZZMHQQLQJVURGHRSKRWRJUDSK\FRP Athlete of the Year Multi-talented cowgirl Megan White wins our most prestigious award hen we receive nominations for our male and female high school athletes of the year, coming down to a single winner for each category is a challenge because we find that all our nominees are champions. Not only do they excel in athletics, but they are also leaders and role models in their classrooms and communities. This year our female recipient is Megan White. She has a unique background and has achieved many successes that make her a worthy recipient of the 2011 BFS High School Female Athlete of the Year award.
Megan is an outstanding athlete who excels in basketball, volleyball, track and rodeo – she is considered a four-sport athlete because in her area rodeo is considered a high school sport. She was an honor student all four years at River Ridge High School in Patch Grove, Wisconsin, and carried a 3.45 GPA. Megan’s accomplishments earned her a partial scholarship for academics and athletics to attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where she will study psychology. “Megan White is a product of a Midwestern work ethic that many of Wthe people in the area she has grown up in are very proud of,” says strength coach Joe Schulte.
“Megan’s family has instilled in her a belief that with hard work and dedication, achievement will The White Family (l-r): Curt, Ronnie, Megan, Brenda. follow. Her family has been actively involved in the rodeo for several generations, and the love of this competition and the hard work that goes with it became a part of who Megan is long before she started participating in high school sports.” In basketball and volleyball, Megan was a three-year starter and letter winner. In basketball she was named the Six Rivers Conference Player of the Year, and as a junior she was MVP. In volleyball as a senior she was co-captain and MVP.
In track, she is a three-time letter winner, competing in the 200 meters, triple jump, discus and shot put; she considers the discus her best event, and she has a personal best of 107 feet. In her junior and senior years River Ridge won the conference title in track. Megan’s role as a leader was impressively displayed in the 2011 basketball season. The Timberwolves started off winning only half of their first eight games, and in the playoffs they had to beat three schools that had a combined record of 71 and 5. The Timberwolves made it to the state championship game, which is the best result in the history of the school.
“We were not even ranked in the top 20 teams at the beginning of the tournament, and no scholarships were offered to any of our girls in basketball,” says Schulte. “These athletes paid the price together in the off-seasons for two years – it showed up in every playoff game, with Megan leading the way with her ‘never say die’ attitude.” In rodeo, Megan started competing in the Little Britches Rodeo at the age of five. She now competes in barrels, poles, breakaway roping, goat tying, cutting, and team roping with her older brother, Ronnie, who is enrolled in UW-Eau Claire as a pre-med major. Her favorite events are breakaway roping and goat tying.
Megan has competed in the National Championships for the past three years, and last year won the all-around title for Wisconsin. In the fall her two horses, Okie and Old Style, will accompany her so she can continue competing in rodeo. “In rodeo, as with any other sport, there is an adrenalin rush,” says Megan, “and because the sport is so spread out you make a lot of new friends from all parts of the state.”
Cowgirl Power One reason for Megan’s success is her commitment to hard work in the weightroom; her personal bests include a 170-pound bench press. Megan says that in basketball, “You can easily tell In addition to being a rodeo champion, Megan was a high school standout in basketball, volleyball and track. which teams do not spend time in the weightroom.” And in rodeo, she says, strength training “helps in all events.” Adds Schulte, “Megan experienced a lot of success in sport, which was due to her competitive nature and her devotion to the weightroom. She helped lead a group of athletes who became the strongest females we have ever had in this school.
Megan and her teammates went farther and did more than anyone in the history of our women’s sports program. We can only hope her example catches on for future groups to follow.”
In addition, Megan has been a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, Biology Club, choir, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She enjoys doing volunteer work with blood drives, visiting nursing homes and coaching in Little Wolves youth basketball and volleyball programs. Asked what advice she would give to young girls who would like to rustle up some of her success, Megan replied, “Keep a positive attitude and remember that hard work pays off.” Spoken like a true 11.
Megan is a very powerful athlete, with best lifts that include a 170-pound bench press. She is shown here performing the dot drill and the box squat, being spotted by teammates Brittany Bradley (left) and Jessica Mergen (right).
“Be An 11 has changed my life! I WILL BE AN 11!” - Katie Heinlen “The most inspiring night of my life!” a.\OH0H\HUV5XWKHUIRUG%+D\HV+LJK2+ “Reaffirmed the reason I entered coaching 25 years ago.” - Coach Al McFarland “Every school in the nation should schedule a Be An 11 Seminar today! It is without a doubt the best thing that has happened to our school.” - Coach T.
Cox “This is exactly what our school - and community - needed.”- Coach Fox Here’s How it Works X$%)63UHVHQWHUZLOOFRPHWR \RXUVFKRRODQGZLOOVSHQGXSWR WKUHHKRXUVLQVSLULQJPRWLYDWLQJ DQGHGXFDWLQJ\RXUDWKOHWHVKRZ WREHFRPHWUXHHOHYHQV XSWRDWKOHWHV$GGҋO DWKOHWHVRQO\HDFK ,QFOXGHVWKH%HDQ *XLGHERRN Interested schools can request a free Be An 11 Book & Seminar literature X27+(5&/,1,&237,216'D\ %HDQ6HPLQDU'D\&OLQLF'D\ %HDQ 6HPLQDU'D\&OLQLF&HUWLÀFDWLRQ&OLQLF DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHELETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976
From BFS Magazine — July/August 2011. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
