Kennewick's Madeline Gebers, SBLive’s 3A Senior Athlete of the Year, plans to play three sports in college
Welcome to a continuing tradition at SBLive Washington – honoring the WaFd Bank 2020-21 senior male and female athletes of the year for each classification.
Because the SBLive crew gets so immersed in specific sports seasons, it is nice to take a step back to pick a statewide honor on a broader scale.
The criteria isn’t too expansive: The starting point is finding seniors who are all-league/all-state performers in two or more sports. Totality of career is also a factor. So is administrator/coach/fan recommendation.
Enjoy as we honor some of Washington’s top multi-sport senior athletes!
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Some athletes just get used to being insanely busy.
Kennewick High School's Madeline Gebers is one of them.
"I cannot imagine having an offseason," she said.
Which is why, she notes, she will try and juggle playing three sports - volleyball, basketball and track and field - starting next fall at Spokane Falls Community College. She is also SBLive WA's Class 3A Senior Female Athlete of the Year for 2020-21.
"She does whatever it takes for her teams to succeed," Kennewick girls basketball coach Daron Santo said.
Besides having an insatiable work ethic - she is constantly working out - Gebers also has unique arm talent, which has contributed to her vast success as an outside hitter/setter in volleyball, an interior scorer/rebounder in basketball and javelin thrower.
"I have four younger brothers, so I grew up throwing a football - and have always been able to throw it really, really far," said Gebers, who has been known to throw it 50 yards or longer.
She also has a knack of adjusting well on the fly, or picking up a new skill quickly.
Case in point: During her ninth grade season in volleyball, she made the switch to setter - and instantly became a starter for the Lions.
And as a senior in basketball, when the team lost both guard Avery Fiander (injury) and post player Alexes Stein (academics) early in the season, Gebers suddenly became the do-everything forward with four underclassmen on the floor.
"She is not only a talented player, she is a smart kid," Santo said. "She just figures out what is going to be the best way to succeed."
Well, succeed in almost everything.
"I went to Topgolf in Arizona, and was awful at it," Gebers said. "And my (club) teammates will say, 'Maddie can do everything but hit a golf ball.'"
MADELINE GEBERS BIO
School: Kennewick.
Sports: Basketball, volleyball, track and field.
Next step: Signed to play all three sports at Spokane Falls Community College where she will also study software engineering.
Senior-year highlights: Voted 4A/3A Mid-Columbia Conference first-team forward for a second consecutive season, leading the Lions in scoring (16.9 points per game). ... Named a second-team 4A/3A MCC setter in volleyball. ... Was a three-event participant in track and field, throwing a personal-best 133 feet, 1 inch to win the MCC title in girls javelin. She also threw shot put for the first time. ... Winner of the Ed Troxel Foundation scholarship for top all-around senior female athlete at Kennewick High School.
Career accomplishments: Leader on two state-tournament teams as a junior in volleyball and basketball (Lions lost to eventual state champion Garfield in their opener). Four-year letter winner was selected to all-MCC basketball teams three times, including her final two seasons on the first team. Scored 1,057 points for her career at Kennewick. ... Four-year letter winner in volleyball who was a first-team MCC setter in 2019-20. ... Was the 3A runner-up as a sophomore in the state javelin with a throw of 128-9 - behind winner Jazlyn Romero, of Hermiston (144-11). ... Plays for Sagebrush Hoops in AAU. ... Great-grandfather was Les Steers, the former world record-holder in the high jump in the 1940s.
School/community achievements: 3.96 GPA taking an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum; Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) member all four years, and was one of club leaders as a junior and senior; Buddy Club member her first two years, working with special-needs students; won Yakima Federal Savings academic scholarship and Washington State Opportunity scholarship; volunteered to work youth basketball and volleyball camps through Kennewick High School; volunteered for mission work through Richland-based New Vintage Church, taking trip to Honduras and two trips to Montana.
