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Athlete Spotlight Interview: Katelyn Maneval
May 31, 2024

This month’s High School Athlete Spotlight is Marysville-Getchell HS’s very own, Katelyn Maneval. She grew up playing softball from a very young age up until this year, her Senior year of High School. Katie will be graduating from Marysville-Getchell this spring and attending Western Washington University in the fall.

SNOCO: Tell me about your experience playing for Marysville-Getchell HS?

MANEVAL: With softball, I grew up with basically all the girls that I played with on that team, since we were like 10 years old. So we all grew up together, but most of them are a year younger. Softball was always my favorite. It was always so fun. Our coach, Mike Moran, was super helpful, super fun. He just made all the seasons good.

SNOCO: Can you share a memorable moment or a highlight from your high school career?

MANEVAL: We beat Everett HS sophomore year in districts. They were always a team that we wanted to beat, and we finally did and got to go to state.

SNOCO: What was your pregame routine?

MANEVAL: I didn’t goof off. I was always trying to get through warmups and walk in focused. I would also eat a protein bar before every game because it helped my nerves.

SNOCO: Who has been the most influential coach or mentor throughout your softball career?

MANEVAL: My select coach, I played with him for three years. His name is Josh McClure. He’s the coach now at Edmonds Woodway High School. He always pushed me. When I was dealing with an injury and he didn’t play me for that period, he would still always push me to be better and do better. He would make us work hard at practice, so the games were easy. And I believe that because our practices were so hard, we always just went into the games confident that we could beat all the teams and we would work so very hard to win.

SNOCO: With your injuries, how was the process of recovering both mentally and physically? How did you overcome that challenge?

MANEVAL: My sophomore year of softball, I sprained my wrist. I was going for fly ball, and I hit the fence and sprained my wrist. I had to sit out for three weeks. When I got back to playing, I had to work hard to get my position back and be able to play how I could before. It was my throwing arm that I sprained. It took a lot to not be able to be part of the wins. When I came back, I just made sure I was working super hard at practice, taking like every rep seriously because I wanted my position back and I wanted to be on the team again.

SNOCO: Did you have a specific skill you wanted to improve over your career?

MANEVAL: I would say hitting was more of a struggle for me. So being able to see the ball more when I was hitting.

SNOCO: As a senior how did you mentor and support the younger players on your team?

MANEVAL: I always just told them not to take this for granted and to have fun. Always work hard because senior season goes by way too fast. I just told them to always have fun.

SNOCO: What does teamwork mean to you?

MANEVAL: Teamwork to me is when someone makes a mistake, you just lift them back up and say “You got the next one!”. Or if you can tell someone is having a bad game, just be there for them, work together, and help each other learn.

SNOCO: What are your plans after high school?

MANEVAL: I’m going to Western, just for my education, I’m not playing any sports. I’m going to be majoring in sports kinesiology. I’m already doing running start, so I’ll only be there for two years. Then I’m going to get my PhD in occupational therapy.

SNOCO: How do you see sports playing a part in your future? Do you think you’ll ever coach?

MANEVAL: My dad was always a big coach. He coached my brother and I growing up and he wants to start coaching baseball again. If I lived close enough to him, I would coach with him.