Mallory Lafever is anything but your typical high school student. On top of being a straight A student in some of the toughest classes that Pleasant Valley has to offer, she is a four season varsity athlete. She starts off the year in cross country, moves into basketball, transitions to track, and ends in the summer with softball.
Lafever has been driven to improve her skills and succeed in sports for many years now. She has been playing basketball and softball for the past 14 and 10 years respectively and has been participating in cross country and track since junior high. In spite of this, her commitment to academics has not waivered. Lafever has maintained the title of Academic Excellence throughout high school by maintaining a 4.0 GPA and above, has served as a member of National Honor Society, and strives to learn new things everyday.
This same positive attitude prevails in all the sports she plays, even when adversity arises. Like all things in life, being an athlete comes with many challenges. Runners can’t make personal records every time they run, basketball players can’t always make all of their shots, and softball players can’t help but strike out every now and then.
Despite this, Lafever has experienced a lot of personal growth and has learned how to deal with her setbacks. Jane Wheeler, the girl’s cross country and track coach, comments on Lafever’s growth as an athlete. “She is really physically talented, but she has also grown immensely as far as her mental and emotional strengths and as a leader on the team. Even though she has always had the physical talent, now she has the strength to endure and persevere through the mental and physical challenges.”
For these reasons and more, Lafever has humbly accepted win after win for all of her hard work over the past four years. Freshman year, she won sixth place in the cross country state competition, and the girl’s cross country team was state runner-up in the meet. She has also been in the top 15 for cross country districts for the past three years and has been all-conference for the past four years. Last week, she was also crowned as MAC champion for girls cross country.
In track, she has qualified to compete in the state meet in the 1500 and the 4 * 800 meter relay for the past three years. With her hard work and participation, the track team won state runner-up in 2015 and 2016. Lafever was state runner-up for softball in 2016 and is also a two time state champion in softball. Lafever has competed in a total of nine state championships thus far with cross country, track, and softball.
Her success can be attributed to her endless dedication, her ability to overcome adversity, and most importantly, the fact that she always puts her team and her teammates first. Wheeler explains Lafever’s selfless attitude towards her team. “She always puts the team first. Whenever she is disappointed in herself, it is because she didn’t feel as though she contributed to the team.” It is with this attitude that Lafever has been able to build up such an extensive list of personal and athletic achievements.
Nonetheless, Lafever does not participate in so many sports just to receive a bunch of titles. “I’ve met most of my best friends though sports, and it’s just a crucial part of who I am. I love the way I get to compete, and especially in running, the way I get to push myself continually to near my physical and mental limits.”
In addition to getting to push her limits, she also loves playing sports because of the camaraderie she has with her teammates and coaches. “I’ve been lucky to be a part of a lot of great teams. My teammates and coaches motivate me everyday, because I want to do my best for them because they are doing the same for me.” It is because of this mindset that she will be missed by so many teams and people when she heads to college.
As her fourth year of cross country comes to an end, Lafever hopes to have one last hoorah with her team as they work to bring home a state championship this season. “I want my last high school cross country race to be the best one yet.”
