On December 6, 2021, senior Katelyn McCoy signed her National Letter of Intent to compete in Division 1 Women’s Golf at Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana.  In addition to golfing, McCoy has decided to major in nursing. While most student-athletes look into multiple schools before making their commitment, McCoy knew from the start she wanted to attend Valparaiso University.  

“It was close to home, they had the major I wanted, and I enjoyed the campus,” McCoy said in regards to her short college list. 

McCoy has been incredibly successful through her golf game during her high school career, making the varsity team all four years.  During her freshman season, she made her first hole-in-one at Palmira Golf and Country Club.  She continued showing incredible skill her junior season by turning in a career-best of 83, at the Warsaw Invite at Stonehenge Golf Club in Winona Lake, Indiana.  This past season, she placed second in the Sectional match at Valparaiso Country Club, a score of 85.  Finally, Katelyn was awarded Rookie of the Year as a freshman and proceeded to earn the team’s Most Valuable Player award in the three years after.  

Not only is McCoy incredibly successful throughout her golf game, but she has accumulated a great amount of academic success, including earning four Scholar-Athlete Awards and making it onto the Honor Roll and Principal’s Honor Roll all four years of high school.  McCoy spoke of some factors that allowed her to be such a successful student-athlete, “Time management. Just make sure you have a good balance between school but make sure you focus on sports.”

In addition to its close proximity, McCoy will experience another sense of familiarity while playing collegiate golf. Coincidentally, she will be coached by her mother, Jill McCoy, who is the head coach of women’s golf at Valparaiso University, an idea that excites Katelyn very much.  

“I’m most excited to be coached by my mom, she’s been a big part of my career, but she’s never coached me in a tournament setting so I’m excited for that,” she stated.

Looking back on McCoy’s incredible career, she expressed her feelings about finishing out her senior season: “It was one to remember, it was cut short, and I would say, from the short time I got to play, I made a lot of improvements,” says McCoy.

McCoy’s season didn’t come without setbacks though.  Unfortunately, her season started a lot later than the rest of the team’s.  At the start of the season, she dealt with back problems that prevented her from picking up a golf club at all. Even though she was not physically working on her game, she was still able to grow in some way as a player.

“Physically, I could not work on my swing; I was put on hold, but mentally it made me stronger,” McCoy recalled.

Being a part of a high school team for so long creates a lot of bonds throughout the years.  Her favorite part, expressed McCoy, was being able to watch her team grow, both individually and as a whole.  

Finally, a piece of advice she offered for girls who are on the golf team or are looking to join was, “Push yourself, put your game first, and focus on improving yourself first, but have fun and make memories because it goes by way too fast.”

McCoy has been an integral part of the CHS Girls Golf Team, over the last four seasons.  Along with her academic and athletic accomplishments, she has made her coaching staff and her teammates incredibly proud.  Although Katelyn did not have a full senior season, she is eager to begin her freshman year of college back at Sand Creek Country Club, her high school home course, practicing with her new teammates.