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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
Freshman midfielder Madison
McQuilliams made the transition to
the collegiate level seamlessly. Although
it is early in the semester
and school year, McQuilliams hardly
seems like an 18-year-old freshman.
McQuilliams becomes the third
Roadrunner in recent history to hail
from Bakersfield, Calif. The decision
to come to Metro was easy for her,
as assistant coach and former Metro
soccer player Adrianne Almaraz
could relate to both McQuilliams and
Gabby Klipp, as she graduated from
Bakersfield High School as well.
"It is good to have a connection to
someone from your home town that
has come out here and has been so
successful both on and off the field,"
Metro head coach Danny Sanchez
said.
McQuilliams, who is leaning toward
majoring in business, has not
had much time for anything other
than school and soccer since moving
to Colorado, but only four games
into the season, her dedication to the
sport is already showing. McQuilliams
leads the team in both goals (5)
and points (13).
"(McQuilliams) came in fit and
ready to compete, which is not always
the case with freshmen," Sanchez
said. "She really put herself in a
good position."
McQuilliams success as a Roadrunner
is a continuation of her successful
high school career. Among
numerous other awards, she was
named to the All-Area team her
sophomore, junior and senior season,
in addition to getting the All-conference
nod all four seasons in high
school. Her high school career was
capped off with being named the Bakersfield
High School Senior Athlete
of the Year.
Modest McQuilliams maintains
that intercollegiate athletics are different
than high school athletics.
"The pace of the game is a lot
faster and there are better and way
bigger girls," McQuilliams said.
Despite how busy soccer and
school has kept McQuilliams, she has
still been able to take in Denver and
the Rocky Mountains. She attended
a Rockies game, as well as the Faith
Hill and Tim McGraw concert held at
the Pepsi Center. A fan of all music,
McQuilliams also plans to see a concert
at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in
Morrison. As of yet, her only excursion
into the Rocky Mountains mixed
business with pleasure as the team
conducted training camp at altitude
in Steamboat Springs. She has only
snowboarded once, but plans on hitting
the slopes this winter now that
she lives in the foothills.
McQuilliams comes from an
athletic family. She has two sisters,
Tayler and Carly, who are both intercollegiate
athletes as well. Carly
plays soccer for Bakersfield College
and Tayler plays basketball at Minot
State in North Dakota. Her family
was very supportive of her decision
to come to Denver.
Although far from Bakersfield,
she is not completely without family
as she has an uncle living in
Lakewood who helped make the
transition easy. Her parents, Mark
and Lori McQuilliams, came to Denver
over the Labor Day weekend to
watch Madison and the Roadrunners
take on Mankato State and Winona
State.
McQuilliams is really enjoying
being a part of the Roadrunner's
tight-knit team.
"There are no cliques on the
team, we are all really close," Mc-
Quilliams said. "Everyone was really
nice, they just let me right in (to the
group)."
She is immersed in the soccer
team as her life revolves around the
team and classes, her living situation
adds to that. McQuilliams lives with
two other soccer players in Lakewood
and the three share the commuting
responsibilities, as their schedules are
all similar.
Outside of Roadrunners soccer,
McQuilliams enjoys watching soccer
and basketball. Although she used
to play basketball, she prefers watching
either her sister Tayler or Phoenix
Suns guard Steve Nash play rather
than stepping onto the court herself.
A Phoenix Suns fan, she likes watching
basketball at any level.
McQuilliams really loves the
game of soccer. She has been playing
since the age of five and has no
intention of stopping any time soon.
For McQuilliams, Metro State has
been "a new experience" and Coach
Sanchez is optimistic about McQuilliams
career and the Roadrunners'
2007 season.
"(McQuilliams) is off to a great
start," Sanchez said. "She is one of
the players that will need to continue
their performance if we are going to
be successful this year."
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