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Whether it was on the pitch, the hardwood or the diamond, Maddy Kristjanson has dominated every season.

Soccer

Soccer was Kristjanson’s sport in the fall. She started playing soccer for the Brier Terrace club, then in select teams before giving up soccer in seventh grade.

She would start back up for the high school her freshman year. That year she made varsity along with several other freshmen. She played mostly midfield and some forward before making the switch to defense where she would then go on to dominate in WesCo. Kristjanson is reflective about her memorable senior soccer season.

“We finally had a winning record,” Kristjanson said. “We were one game away from state, which no one really expected going into the season.”

Basketball

The winter sport for Kristjanson was basketball. Starting with the Sno-King and then Alderwood Boys and Girls Club, she would also go onto select teams, and even playing with girls older than her. In seventh grade she stopped with select basketball and Kristjanson tried out and made the basketball team at Brier Terrace Middle School.

At Terrace, Kristjanson took her talents to the court, making varsity basketball as well. Her amazing senior season was one for the record books.

“We hadn’t really had a winning record in a while,” Kristjanson said. “We made it to state regionals, one game away from the Tacoma Dome and lost by one point, which was unfortunate, but we had an amazing season.”

Softball

To complete her trilogy of high school sports, Kristjanson played softball in the spring. She started playing T-ball with Sno-King. Kristjanson played on a baseball team with all boys, many of them ended up playing for the Hawks.

She then played with the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club, and eventually moved to play on select teams, where she played with girls one or two years older than her.

She went on to make the softball teams at BTMS in her seventh and eighth grade year, while continuing to play with her select teams, too. Her freshman year she also made her debut on the varsity softball diamond.

With disappointing seasons in soccer and basketball her freshman year, Kristjanson remembered going to state for softball and for the first time. This was not just as a highlight of her freshman year, but as a highlight of her entire Terrace career.

“Being able to experience that my first year in high school on varsity and going to play the best teams in the state was a good push for myself athletically and the rest of the team,” Kristjanson said. “To be able to say that I went to state my freshman year [is great].”

Spare Time and Academics

With all the practices and games that Kristjanson had at Terrace, all the traveling she did for her select softball and all while being a student, Maddy didn’t have that much free time.  However, when she did she would always spend it with friends and family or just relaxing.

“Most of the time I just relax and hang out with my friends,” Kristjanson said. “[We] just do stupid stuff, just eat a whole bunch of crappy food for us, watch movies and just hang out and laugh and crack jokes all the time. Just hanging out and being goofballs is definitely what I like to do in my spare time.”

Even though being an amazing athlete took up most of her time, she was still a student first; she had homework and other assignments just like the rest of the students at Terrace. Most of the time her games or practices would not end until very late at night. With this dilemma  Kristjanson had to quickly learn important time management skills so that she could have time for every thing she was doing.

“I think it was kind of a news flash to me coming into high school,” Kristjanson said. “Middle school was kind of easy, not a ton of homework or assignments or projects and stuff like that. Being a three-sport-athlete has taught me to really work hard with my time management and to be able to really focus and get determined to get my stuff done. I think that’s one of the things that being an athlete in high school has taught me is self motivation and management with [my] school work [which is] definitely important because [I am] a student before an athlete.”

Seattle University

When the Hawks lost 9-2 to Meadowdale in the 3A District 1 finals for softball, the Kristjanson era came to an end for Terrace. From here on out, she is moving forward to bigger and better things. This fall she will travel 30 minutes south to become a Redhawk at Seattle University.

Due to that fact, she quit her select soccer and basketball teams to focus on softball. She now feels more prepared for the college level. And this fall she’ll give up both soccer and basketball completely now that she’s enrolled at SU to be there strictly for softball and academics. Choosing softball was a difficult decision for Kristjanson, but it was one that she had to make.

“I had to narrow it down to one sport and I figured at that time softball was my best sport personally,” Kristjanson said. “I thought I dominated the most in softball. That was a tough decision to have to make, but I made that decision and I’m glad I did because I still enjoy playing it.”

In Kristjanson’s junior year, college coaches started talking to her (about her future), with SU and UW being the top schools doing so. UW was interested, but they weren’t as excited about her as Seattle U was.

“The [Seattle U] coach showed a lot of interest in me and offered the most for me,” Kristjanson said.

“I have a ton of family that always comes out to all my high school games. To be able to be in Seattle, nice and close, I’ll be able to have a big fan club.”

Future Goals

During her time at SU, Kristjanson wants to become a better athlete and help bring more attention to the softball program. As for her studies, Kristjanson plans to major in education.

“Going into college, academically I want to be an elementary school teacher, somewhere from first to fifth grades,” Kristjanson said. “With Seattle U, [during my] freshman  [year I’m] actually able to go into schools in the Seattle School District and work with teachers and the kids in the classroom. Hopefully after college, down the road, I would like to coach, whether its high school or whatever it may be, I would really like to see myself as a coach, as well as an elementary school teacher, [but] we’ll see what the future holds.”

Inspirations

At times it can be very stressful for Kristjanson but she says she has a solid support network.

“Having a lot of family in Washington that live close, [for example] I have a cousin, Kristjan Pedersen, who’s also a senior, having a fan club so close and a lot of them coming to my games is really important to me because I know I have them there no matter what happens, win or lose. [If I] make a mistake, or have the best game of my life, they will always be there for me, supporting me and loving me. My dad has been a big part [of] my life for athletics. He’s been my coach since I was little always giving me pointers, helping me with my mental game and also out on the field. My parents have been a big help, spending all that money for me to be able to travel and get that college exposure. It’s paid off, I mean I guess I’m going to college, that’s cool, but my family and friends are definitely a big part of it and even kids at school who come to games, whether we have two fans or 20 fans or whatever it may be, just that little show of support means a lot everyone out there that’s playing.”

Without Athletics

“I would definitely have a lot more spare time, that’s for sure. [I would] probably take a lot more naps. Athletics are such a big part of my life, having it constant year-around. The week or two that I get in-between sports during high school season I go home a couple days and it’s super nice to take a nap and after that I get kind of bored,” she said.

“I always constantly wanna be doing something athletic, so I would probably have a lot of to time to spend on academics. [I] would hopefully be a 4.0 student if I had that much time,” Kristjanson admitted.

“A lot more of [my time] would be spent with my friends and my family and [I would] probably find another hobby to do, whatever it would be, knitting, something outdoorsy,” she said. “Athletics are a big part of my life, so I’ve never really thought about that before.”