Kamiak 3-sport athlete excels in the classroom, too

MUKILTEO — Maintaining an almost perfect grade point average certainly keeps Tylor Adcock busy. But if that isn’t enough, she is also a standout three-sport athlete at Kamiak High School.

And if all that isn’t enough, she is also one of 16 top student-athletes from across the state to serve on the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) LEAP board, which is an acronym for Leadership through Education, Activities and Personal development program.

Adcock, a 17-year-old junior at Kamiak, where she plays soccer, basketball and track, is serving the first of two years as a LEAP board member. “Because this is a leadership committee,” said Andy Knapp, the WIAA’s director of marketing, “we’re looking for kids who are pillars of their school community, are involved in a variety of activities, and are academically successful in addition to their athletic accomplishments.

“And to be honest,” Knapp said, “Tylor was a pretty easy choice for us.”

Every high school has students who stand out in academics, citizenship and sports, but in some cases the same person excels in all three. At Kamiak, Adcock is one of those special individuals. In addition to her academic achievements, she is on track to leave Kamiak with 12 varsity letters in four years, which would make her the first athlete in school history to do so.

“Honestly, she’s just the best kid,” said Beth Stewart, Kamiak’s girls soccer coach. “As far as a teammate and a leader, I’ve never seen anybody stronger. I’ve been at Kamiak for 10 years, and she covers the gamut. … She has everything going for her, right down to the smile on her face.”

“She knows what she wants to do, and when she sets out to do something she accomplishes it,” agreed Knights girls basketball coach Brian Norman. “She lives her life with purpose, and I think that’s important for anybody.”

Though soccer is probably Adcock’s best sport, she is a pretty good basketball player, too. Her mother is a former basketball coach at Sammamish High School who sometimes took young Tylor to practice, so she has been around the game “ever since my mom put a ball in my hands. Ever since I could walk.”

A 5-foot-10 center/forward, Adcock is “a pretty fierce competitor,” Norman said. “I think the main thing she brings to our team is a little bit of toughness inside. She’ll do a lot of the dirty work, like the rebounding and playing tough defense. And offensively she has a little repertoire of moves that she uses down low.

“She’s just a valuable part of our team on both ends of the court, and we’re happy to have her,” he said.

For all Adcock has accomplished in high school, there is still one missing piece. In three sports she has often competed in district tournaments, but never at a state tournament. And that goal, as yet unfulfilled, “has been there since my freshman year,” she said.

Adcock attended the state football championship last fall in her capacity as a LEAP board member, “so I’ve seen how it all happens,” she said. “But now I just want to be a part of it in a different way. Just being on the court and competing in front of all those people, it’d be super cool.”

Though her college plans are still taking shape, Adcock says she does not expect to play sports after high school. A committed Christian, she is very involved with the international outreach organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM). And in the future, she said, “I just want God to take me wherever He wants me to go.”

Eventually she might become a teacher or a pediatrician or “maybe something with psychology with kids,” she said. “I’ve always loved working with kids.”

But in the meantime, Adcock is looking forward to finishing her four years at Kamiak and her remaining sports seasons with the Knights.

“I definitely want to get the most out of it because I love it,” she said. “I absolutely love working with the other girls on the team. And I love the competition because I’m so competitive. I just want to go out there and play as hard as I can.”