Multi-Sport, Multi-Talented:Senior Class President McKayla Norris Receives Prestigious Awards at Graduation Ceremony

Following an academic and athletic career during which McKayla Norris achieved excellence at every turn, classmates voted her class president, and she became a two-sport captain and All-Star, the 18-year-old student leader may have saved her best moment for last at the Winthrop High School Class of 2018 graduation ceremonies.

Norris’s presidential address was awe-inspiring, eloquently telling the graduates’ story of the at-times hectic but rewarding four-year journey of personal growth, bonding, and enrichment that began with a return to the old middle school building and ended at a sparkling, new state-of-the-art high school and athletic complex.

The speech included an earnest “thank you and farewell” to the Winthrop High administration and faculty, family and friends, stating how lucky she and her classmates were “to have a place and people that are so hard to say goodbye to.”

But the heart of the speech reinforced what made Norris so highly respected by her peers in the school. The most important speech of her life to-date wasn’t about her – it was about “we,” as in what we, the Class of 2018, accomplished in the past four years, from reaching out as one to help a child in need, to achieving success in Mock Trial, to classmates Devin Pulsifer and Tayjaun McKenzie earning entry in to the 1,000-point club.

To shine a sports light on the speech, McKayla Norris hit it out of the ballpark.

 

Excellence in sports and academics

McKayla Norris received some of the most prestigious awards at the graduation ceremony: the Wallace B. MacLean Athletic Award, the Michael Eruzione Olympic Spirit Award, an Excellence in Foreign Language Award, and a $15,000 Facella Family Academic Scholarship.

The MacLean Award is given to “the girl who has done the most for athletics during her career.” There is no doubt Norris’s athletic versatility, exceptional leadership and scholastic excellence (she is a member of the National Honor Society) will earn her induction in to the WHS Hall of Fame one day, taking her rightful place alongside Sue Goldstein Freedland, Maureen McManus Hill, Lisa Monteleone Ferrara, Lisa Gill Howard, Nicole Giaquinto, Courtney Finn, and other all-time female superstars in school history.

Norris was a four-year girls hockey player, a four-year varsity cheerleader, and a two-year track standout. She was a captain of the ice hockey and outdoor track teams.

The 5-foot-9-inch center led the hockey team in goals (14) and points (24) this past season and finished as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers with 64 points. She was named team co-MVP (with Catie O’Shea) while also receiving All-Conference honors. Her teams made four consecutive appearances in the State Tournament.

Girls hockey coach Butch Martucci said Norris and O’Shea’s year-to-year improvement, their superior leadership, and the positive example they set for the underclassmen with their dedication at every practice were instrumental factors in the team’s success this season.

“Our captains [McKayla and Catie] brought a team together better than anyone we’ve ever had,” Martucci told the guests at the girls hockey banquet. “These two players led by example, led by voice, and they did everything the right way. These two girls were absolutely everything and we’re going to miss you badly.”

 

An esteemed sports family

Michael Norris, a WHS Class of 1981 graduate, accompanied his daughter, McKayla, to Viking football and hockey games all the time while she was growing up. Michael was a former Viking football and hockey standout himself and he has coached in the boys hockey program for a dozen years.

“Dale Dunbar and Frankie Ferrara were our captains when I made the team as a sophomore,” recalled Michael, who began skating in the Winthrop Youth Hockey program. “We won the conference that season and again in my senior year.”

Michael’s younger sister, Michelle Norris, was a record-setting shot putter in the girls track program on Larry Keegan-coached teams. Sports were always an important pastime in the Norris home.

“My father [the late Joe Norris] said a long time ago, ‘If you’re busy, you’re doing the right thing,’” recalled Michael. “He said if you’re playing sports and you’re active, you won’t miss a day in school. That’s what my wife [Cathy] and I have pitched here – to do something productive each day, to be a good person, to be kind, and to be respectful. That’s how all three of our children were brought up.”

McKayla’s older brother, Michael, now a business major at UNH, was also a Viking hockey captain. Her sister, Mia, a seventh-grader, began skating at a young age, and will now carry on the family’s steep athletic tradition in Winthrop.

McKayla inherited her father’s competitive drive, determination and leadership skills.

“I was inspired to get in to sports because I’m very competitive and I like being on a team,” said McKayla, who began her career as a center on a state champion Winthrop Youth Hockey U-10 team coached by Butch Martucci. She made her official debut for the Winthrop High varsity as a freshman.

“Mr. Martucci has been a great coach and a role model for me through hockey,” lauded McKayla. “I wish him a lot of success for his teams in the future.”

As a football cheerleader, she helped the WHS squad earn a second-place finish in the Northeastern Conference competition and the regionals.

“I’ve always been a big Winthrop fan, so I liked being on the sidelines cheering the team on, but also being competitive and working toward our goals while cheering on the football team in their goals,” said Norris. “My main cheerleading coach, Mary Johnson, always pushed us to be our best and was always looking out for the best for the team.”

BEGINning in a new sport

When the WHS musical productions (in which she had performed) were moved from spring to the fall, Norris opted to enter the outdoor program as a junior, excelling in the 100-meter dash and becoming a leading scorer for coach Warren MacPhail’s Vikings. She finished third in the NEC Meet in the 100 meters and had a personal best of 4 feet, 8 inches, in the high jump.

“Mr. MacPhail was really encouraging and always motivating the people on his team to be doing the best they can,” said Norris. “Competing in track was a great experience.”

Was it difficult balancing her busy, year-round sports schedule with her academics and involvement in school government?

“As a student-athlete it’s always a challenge, but as long as you’re organizing your time and putting all your effort in to both things, you can be successful at both,” said Norris. “I think a lot of things in sports coincide with things in the classroom. Like, if you want to get better at math, you need to practice problems; if you want to get better at a sport, you need to do it through practice. If it were the third period in a hockey game, would I give up there? No, so I shouldn’t give up in the classroom. I think that drove me to do my best in school as well.”

attending the new high school

Norris said she and her classmates welcomed with much enthusiasm the highly anticipated day when they entered the new high school building for the first time.

“Being able to go to the new high school was truly unbelievable, something I’ll always remember,” said Norris. “Being able to walk in to a brand-new building, after being in an old middle school for five years in a row – I felt really honored that I was able to be the president of the senior class for my senior year in that building. The school is one of those things that’s going to benefit the town for years so I’m really glad I got to be a part of it when it opened. And I’m really thankful to all the teachers that I had in my four years.”

Michael Norris credits the Winthrop school system for providing his daughter with a great education and setting an excellent foundation for college.

“It starts at the top and I’ve seen positive change – with Lisa Howard as superintendent and Matt Crombie as principal and it goes throughout the system,” said Norris. “The schools were great for McKayla.”

 

Winthrop hockey’s

good luck charm

McKayla Norris began singing the ‘National Anthem’ at Winthrop High boys hockey games while in elementary school. Winthrop won the wide majority of its games at the Larsen Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center, so Norris, a la Kate Smith and the Philadelphia Flyers, was considered “a good luck charm” for the Vikings.

“She was pretty good at it in the sixth grade when she first started and by her senior year, she was very good at what she did,” said her proud father.

She had developed her theatrical talents at Trudy Macero’s Winthrop School For Performing Arts and stayed involved in school productions through middle school and high school. She also plays guitar and piano.

 

On to college

Norris will be attending Quinnipiac University in Connecticut where she will be studying communications and broadcasting.

“I’m hoping to get in to sports broadcasting,” said Norris.

Looking back on all the practices, games, cheerleading competitions, rehearsals, and student government meetings, McKayla said she’s grateful for the support of her parents, Michael and Cathy, on her dynamic, successful experience as a scholar-athlete and ultimately, senior class president.

“I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to my parents, because I wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything if I didn’t have their support,” said Norris. “Just thank you so much to them and my brother and my sister, I love you.”