A Maryville High School senior earned the opportunity to compete at the Division I level next year, but it's in a sport she's never played.
Claire Walter, a three-sport standout for the Spoofhounds, committed to join the Kansas State rowing team beginning next fall as she enters her freshman year of college.
"Rowing is a totally new sport (for me), so that just makes me really excited," Walter said. "I love challenges and I'm really excited for the next chapter in that."
Walter has shined throughout her time at Maryville High School in volleyball, basketball, and soccer — those experiences put her in position for a collegiate career on the water.
"You have to be a certain height and they look for certain body types, different sports you play, your build, and things like that," Walter said.
"It's just been really fun to kind of see how rowing works. I didn't really know how it works until I went there and saw them on the water. It's a lot more difficult than I was expecting, but I'm really excited for that."
Walter has flexed her muscles with her athletic prowess on the court and on the pitch, but she's also become a teammate underclassmen look up to and was named captain of the 2026 Spoofhound volleyball team.
"Leadership is such a big thing to me, leading by example and showing others how to live like Christ in those areas and situations has just been really cool for me to step into these last few years."
With her future in Manhattan, Kan. set, Walter is locked in on a strong senior year in the classroom and on the court. The first challenge awaiting her is the volleyball postseason.
Maryville owns an 18-6 record and the No. 1 seed in next week's Class 3, District 16 Tournament.
