Kelly Karl was a three sport start at LHS

• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.

Kelly Karl (Lieba), a Libertyville High School Class of 1994 grad, has the unique distinction of being a 12 sport season varsity letter winner.

And, as rare as that is, the amount of success she achieved in her four years of three varsity sports (cross-country in the fall, basketball in the winter, and soccer in the spring) is mind boggling.

Karl began distance running as a 7 year old. There was a road run at Adler Park where any entrant got a coupon for free french fries at McDonald's. She begged her mom to let her run in this event for the fries. But taking part in the event got her hooked on competitive running through high school.

During her four years of high school cross-country, under the direction of coach Harry Carlson, the LHS team had its best stretch of cross-country success ever. The team placed second in the state her freshman year in the fall of 1990, fourth in 1991, third in 1992, and fifth in 1993.

Karl finished third in the state as a freshman, 13th as a sophomore, 23rd as a junior, with all All-State honors. She was diagnosed with mono toward the end of her senior cross-country season, which prevented her from a fourth All-State Cross Country finish.

Karl was a varsity basketball player all four years, the starting point guard her final three years for coach Tom Murphy, earning All-Conference honors her sophomore through senior season. The girls team won the regionals in 1991, 1993 and 1994, winning sectional titles in 1993 and 1994.

Karl was the starting center forward in soccer all four years for coach Andy Bitta, leading the team in points every year.

She was All-Conference four years, All-State her junior and senior years, and All-Midwest those same two years. Upon graduation, she was the LHS career goal scoring leader with 74. Her teams won the conference title all four years, winning the state title in 1991, qualifying for the Elite Eight in 1994.

With plenty of college offers in all three sports, Karl chose basketball, thanks to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' championship seasons of the early 1990s. The University of New Hampshire - a school she felt she could play at right away - offered her a four-year full scholarship, which she accepted.

Karl started all four years as point guard at UNH. During her four years, she received several conference player of the week honors; was an America East All-Conference selection her senior year, finishing her career with UNH's All-Time 3-point shooting percentage; and was tops in assists and third in steals.

Following her college studies, where Karl got a degree in kinesiology from UNH, a bachelor's in nursing from Loyola, and a master's in business administration from Lake Forest College, she worked as a full-time ER nurse at Advocate Condell Medical Center. She most recently took a job at AbbVie in the immunology department.

Karl's son, Jameson, plays basketball for the LHS sophomore team. Her daughter, Isabelle, who is in fourth grade, plays club soccer and basketball, and likes to run - just like her mom.