Cary-Grove’s Lincicum was a ‘game changer’
Paige Lincicum isn’t one of those athletes who can recall much about the actual games she played in.
Sure, she can tell you one of her best basketball memories is a game against Stevenson, and how playing Barrington in soccer always has its memories because of the friendships she has with club teammates who play for the Fillies.
But what Lincicum, Cary-Grove’s senior point guard and goalkeeper will tell you she remembers most about high school sports is what she’s gained in the way of relationships that go beyond the court or the field.
“Every year was fun,” Lincicum says. “It wasn’t just the accomplishments but how close we all were. Those are the things I remember — the relationships we made. I feel like you don’t remember every game but you remember all the little stuff.”
The accomplishments were plenty, too, and for her efforts this school year Lincicum has been selected as the 2011-11 Daily Herald Fox Valley Female Athlete of the Year. She becomes the first Cary-Grove athlete, male or female, to earn the award since its inception in 1997.
The point guard on Cary-Grove’s 21-9 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division and regional championship basketball team, Lincicum’s chosen sport to play in college is soccer, where her 0.76 goals against average and 7 shutouts helped the Trojans to the FVC Valley title in that sport as well. She will play soccer on scholarship at Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“To put it simply, Paige is a game-changer,” said Cary-Grove girls soccer coach Ray Krystal. “Her abilities as a goalkeepr routinely astound and amaze. She is fiercely competitive and provides great confidence to her team because they trust that she will be there for them.”
Lincicum, a Cary resident who plays for the FCX club team out of Barrington, says there really wasn’t a point in her career where she decided on soccer over basketball — until the scholarship offer came.
“There really wasn’t a set time where I decided to play soccer,” she said. “UW Milwaukee contacted me and I went up there to visit and realized it would be a good experience.”
There is one thing in particular she likes about soccer.
“One goal in one second can change the outcome,” she said. “I’m a big person on competition and I just like how competitive soccer is.”
That one goal in one second is what Lincicum lived to stop, and she did it quite well.
“Paige is a presence both on and off the field and I can confidently say Paige is the best goalkeeper in the state and the best I have ever coached,” said Krystal of the all-sectional performer. “The 2012 conference championship would not have been possible without Paige. Paige provided the most impressive performances I have seen from that position while not looking for personal attention, but rather because she cared about her teammates. She was clearly a strong part of a tightly-bonded group of friends both on and off the field.”
To Trojans’ girls basketball coach Rod Saffert, who has had a pretty good run of point guards over the years, the 5-foot-10 Lincicum’s performance this season was nothing short of remarkable, considering she had to step in and run the point for graduated standout Megan Straumann. In her basketball career, the Trojans went 74-17 (30-2 in the FVC), won three conference and three regional titles. She was IBCA third team all-state this season as well as her team’s MVP. She averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game.
“Paige os one the best athletes I have ever seen” said Saffert. “Her growth over the past four years in our program has been nothing short of phenomenal. She was asked to be our point guard as a senior and she rose to the challenge in ways I never imagined.
“She will be greatly missed. I don’t know if I will ever see a stronger more versatile player like Paige again. She has set the bar very high for future Lady Trojans.”
Lincicum, who has an older sister at Drake University as well as a twin brother/sister duo getting ready to enter Cary-Grove as freshmen, acknowledges she had some help along the way.
“My parents supported me with every decision I made,” said Lincicum of her dad, Ron, and her mom, Cindy. “They never made me play something I didn’t want to play. And coach Saffert and coach Krystal are both competitive guys and they really helped me with my competitiveness. They rubbed off on me.”
Now comes the next chapter — a college education while playing soccer in Milwaukee, where Lincicum will study kinesiology in hopes of pursuing a career in physical therapy.
“I’m excited but I’m a little nervous too,” Lincicum said.
But if her high school career is any indication of things to come, nervous will be put in the rear view mirror pretty quickly.