Northwest female athlete of the year

With her eye-popping academic and athletic resume, Maddie Conlin was Rolling Meadows “golden” girl.

Now she’s off to the campus known for its Golden Dome.

The three-sport athlete, who has a class ranking of No. 1, will continue her education at Notre Dame.

But she will hardly be forgotten at Rolling Meadows, where she became the school’s first female athlete to finish with 12 letters.

For an amazing job of balancing school work, three sports (swimming, basketball and soccer) and several other roles, Conlin has also been named the 2011 Daily Herald Female Athlete of the Year.

And we haven’t even mentioned she was student council president, a drum major and member of the IHSA All-State Academic Team, National Honor Society, Student Principal Advisory Committee, Mighty Mustang Mentors and Mustangs Committed to Service.

Conlin also earned the Howard Lester Award which goes to one top male and one female athlete in District 214.

“Maddie is truly one of a kind,” said RM boys and girls swimming coach Monika Chiappetta. “I have had the opportunity to coach great athletes, and not all have reached their potential but Maddie worked that hard to reach her potential in all the things she did.”

There has been a history of athleticism in Conlin’s family.

Her father, Tom, lettered in football, basketball, and baseball at Hersey before attending Notre Dame.

Her mother, Nancy, played volleyball, basketball and track in Minnesota before playing volleyball and running track at North Dakota State.

And her brother Pat attends Concordia University Chicago, where he pitches for the baseball team.

Chiappetta, basketball coach Todd Hatfield and girls soccer coach Jeff Adkins could not say enough about the four-year varsity player in each of their sports.

And Maddie returns the compliment.

“I can’t say enough about how all my coaches and teammates have supported me in my four years,” she said. “I would not have had any success if not for them.

“My coaches were all so flexible in letting me participate in so many different activities.”

Girls basketball

When Conlin was a freshman on the varsity girls basketball team, the Mustangs won 4 games.

But over her next three seasons, Conlin helped the program emerge as a legitimate conference contender and it won 19 games her senior season.

“This transformation could not have taken place without the work of Maddie Conlin both on and off the court,” said three-year varsity coach Todd Hatfield. “Maddie has been a rock for this program among both the players and coaches.”

Conlin finished her career with close to 750 career points and over 100 3-pointers.

“Her amazing work ethic and dedication have been on display for all to see on a day-to-day basis,” Hatfield said. “The greatest part is that it doesn’t matter what the scenario may be, Maddie is always doing it with the most amazing smile on her face.”

During the off-season, Conlin took close to 50,000 shots in the summer leading up to her junior and senior season.

“Maddie’s off-season workouts are for all to admire,” Hatfield said. “With all that she does within the school and among the community, there was no way anyone could make an excuse about not having enough time to work on their game either in season or out.

“I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach her over the past three years. This kid is truly one of a kind and it’s been a blast getting to share these accolades with both her and her family.”

Girls soccer

Girls soccer coach Jeff Adkins has known Conlin since she was at Westgate Elementary School when she began going to his camp.

Adkin could see back then that Conlin and the group of girls in her class had great potential and dedication.

“During Maddie’s freshman year, I played her at outside defense,” Adkins said. “During a game against Hoffman Estates (who had all-stater Chrissy Tooren), we lost 4-0 and Tooren scored all 4 goals. When we played them again two weeks later, I put Maddie on Tooren and told her not to leave her alone. Maddie was able to frustrate her and she did not score.”

As a sophomore, Adkins switched Conlin to sweeper.

“That’s where I usually put my best defender,” he said. “I also named her captain, which is something I have never done with a sophomore.”

Only two years earlier, a pair of four-year all-MSL players (all-stater Lauren Ryan and Lauren Wisniewski) had graduated from the program.

“And even they were not captains until junior year,” Adkins said. “Maddie had this unique ability to earn respect from upperclassmen even though she was only a sophomore.”

As a junior, Conlin broke her hand in the middle of the season.

“During that time we not only lost games, we got beat really bad,” Adkins said. “It was a huge loss to our team not having Maddie. Not just in her skills but in her leadership.”

“Maddie has been the heart and soul of our team for the past four years. I have had players lead by example, lead by passion, and one even lead by fear. Maddie leads in all those areas, except instead of fear, it’s respect. Maddie has won a ton of awards this year. At no point have I heard anyone complain or show jealously. People just think the world of her, and wish her even more success.”

Girls swimming

Conlin was one of the members and captain of the Meadows’ 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle record-setting relay teams.

“What makes Maddie outstanding is that she came to the pool every single day, every single week, every single month and every single year to work and work hard,” Chiappetta said. “ And she did that all with a huge smile.”

Chiappetta loved Conlin’s attitude.

“Whenever I would give Conlin a challenge, she would give me more than I could have asked for,” the coach said. “She was a constant role model to her peers. She was a leader, but not always in your face, just by her consistently respectful and happy attitude. Even when the work was near impossible, her demeanor never changed.”

The future

Conlin, who has received an ‘A’ in every class she has taken in school except for one ‘B’ in a fifth-grade English class, plans to study math at Notre Dame.

She scored a 35 on her ACT exam and will probably major in business or accounting.

Conlin’s coaches believe the sky is the limit.

“This definitely won’t be the last time this school hears from Maddie,” Hatfield said. “I am sure I will be coming back one day when she is honored as a Rolling Meadows High School Distinguished Alumni”.

“I can’t wait to see what great things Maddie will do in the future,” Adkins added. “I can’t say enough about her and I wish her all the best.”