Lynnwood senior Mikayla Pivec added another prestigious award to her collection Tuesday when she was named the MaxPreps 2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year.
With the honor Pivec, joins an elite company of previous winners that includes Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin and standout distance runner Jordan Hasay.
“I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Pivec said. “To have national recognition like that is pretty amazing. I’m honored to have that. There’s so many great athletes in the U.S. and for them to pick me, I was shocked.”
Pivec starred for the Lynnwood cross country, basketball and track and field teams. She placed eighth at the state cross country meet her senior year and helped lead the defending-state champion Royals girls basketball team to a third-place finish at the 2016 Class 3A state tournament. Lynnwood’s only loss of the season was to eventual state champion Bellevue in the state semifinals.
Pivec finished her basketball career as Lynnwood’s all-time leader in points (1,799), rebounds (1,429), assists (364) and steals (350), and was twice named the Washington Gatorade Player of the Year.
In her final track and field season, Pivec won the state title in the javelin, with a throw of 147 feet, a distance that ranked in the top 20 nationally, according to DyeStat. She became the first female athlete in state history to toss a javelin 140-plus feet and run a sub-five minute 1,600 run at the same meet. Her efforts helped the Royals claim the 3A team state championship.
Being a star in three sports was a big reason Pivec secured the national honor.
“The MaxPreps Female Athlete of the Year award is one where we look at their entire body of work over the course of a year,” MaxPreps.com Editor Leland Gordon said in an e-mail. “What set Mikayla apart from the other candidates was her spectacular performance in multiple sport seasons.
“Lynnwood’s basketball program performed at a national-caliber level up until the end and she was the ringleader, then followed it up with state championship performances in track and field that were impossible to overlook — and her cross country resume is solid as well.”
Pivec said she would like to see more student-athletes participate in multiple sports, instead of specializing in one.
“I wish more people did it because now more people are leaning towards specializing,” Pivec said. “I think playing three sports is helpful because if you’re dedicated to (all three), you’re going to work out more and probably improve more.”
Other finalists for the MaxPreps 2015-16 Female Athlete of the Year were Ashlee Swindle (Curry H.S., Alabama), MaxPreps National Basketball Player of the Year Sabrina Ionescu (Miramonte H.S., California), 44-time track and field state champion Gabrielle Jennings (First Baptist Christian H.S., Louisiana) and Lauren Cox (Flower Mound H.S., Texas).
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