Sports
B1
Appeal Tribune, www.silvertonappeal.com
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Kennedy's Lakin Susee (12) drives past Western Mennonite's Maddie Hopper (11) in the second half of the Kennedy vs. Western Mennonite girls basketball game at Western Mennonite High
School in Salem on Dec. 16. Susee is one of the rare athletes who seem to excel at anything she puts her mind to, as she is a three-sport star for the Trojans.
Susee ends career in grand fashion
Luis Ramirez
Statesman Journal
MT. ANGEL - When the final buzzer
sounded and the Kennedy High girl’s
basketball team had clinched its first
state championship, star player Lakin
Susee could finally breathe a sigh of re-
lief. As the Tri-River Conference Player
of the Year and a four-year starter for the
Trojans, Susee was expected to lead the
team to great heights. With the weight of
expectations on her shoulders and an
ever-evolving group of teammates, she
put her head down and went to work.
“I worked on handling pressure bet-
ter and being a positive leader for my
team,” Susee said. “We have a lot of other
great players on the team and playing
with them, I knew we could win a state
championship.”
Last season after the Trojans placed
fifth at the state tournament, Susee knew
she had one more chance to win a cham-
pionship in basketball.
“I kind of knew to make the most of it
and give my all since it would be my last
season,” Susee said. “The way we ended
last year in fifth place and making it to
Pendleton I knew that I wanted to get
back there and place better.”
Kennedy was returning a strong
group this season. Led by Susee on the
perimeter, they also had seniors Kenzie
Ratliff in the post and Taylor Brown at
the point.
“I knew how much my team wanted to
win that state title so we worked hard in
the summer and throughout the season,”
Susee said. “We took it upon ourselves to
work as hard as we could to reach our
goal and we did, which was pretty re-
markable for us.”
Susee is one of the rare athletes who
seem to excel at anything she puts her
mind to, as she is a three-sport star for
the Trojans. In the fall she plays volley-
ball, in the winter she plays basketball
and in the spring she does track. To top it
off, in the classroom she is a 4.0 student.
Although it may seem to come easy
for Susee, she has had to work hard to
hone her skills.
“She does whatever is needed and is
one of the hardest working players
we’ve probably ever coached,” co-bas-
ketball coach Kerry Hall said. “She’s in-
credibly smart and she’s one of those
players that could probably take over
coaching (since) she knows the game so
well.”
She is a setter and outside hitter for
the volleyball team, which finished fifth
at the state tournament. This year she
had 467 kills, 426 digs, 353 assists and 66
aces and was named to the first-team
Class 2A state tournament team, first-
team Class 2A all-state, first-team all-
Tri-River Conference and was the Tri-
River Conference co-Player of the Year.
On the track, she finished sixth at the
state track and field championships in
the high jump in 2015.
“It’s pretty cool to see the accomplish-
ments the teams I’ve been on have been
able to achieve,” Susee said. “It’s (also)
great to see that people can recognize
what I’ve done with the school programs
that I’ve been apart of.”
SHELDON TRAVER/SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
Kennedy High School senior Lakin Susee was
named player of the year in the OSAA 2A
Tri-River Conference.
BRENT DRINKUT/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Kennedy high jumper Lakin Susee competes
during the OSAA Class 2A Track & Field
Championships.
On the basketball court, Susee has
been a starter from the day she stepped
on the court. A point guard during her
first two seasons, she transitioned to
shooting guard to help out the team.
“Lakin from her freshman year has
progressed a ton, not just in the game of
basketball, but all around,” Hall said.
“Teammates have come and gone and
she’s had to change the way she’s
played,”
Susee showed up this season on a mis-
sion, which helped inspire her team-
mates.
“She showed up every game and
played as hard as she could on defense,”
Hall said. “She definitely deserved play-
er of the year (because) there isn’t anoth-
er player around like her that can re-
bound every night, get the steals she
does, get assists and yet score 17-20
points.”
She ended the season by making the
second-team Class 2A all-state team and
winning the Tri-River Conference Play-
er of the Year.
“She will be greatly missed and she’s
probably one of the best athletes to ever
come out of Kennedy,” Hall said.
lramirez@StatesmanJournal.com or
Twitter.com/@LuisRamirez10
REACH US: Pete Martini, pmartini@Salem.Gannett.com