Mady Turner ready for big senior season

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Tipp Featured Athlete

With soccer right around the corner, the Tippecanoe girls soccer team is gearing up this summer for a run at the MVL title. They are bringing back a mix of experienced players along with younger athletes who are working to become a strong contributor to the success of the Red Devils program.

One senior who has left her mark already in two sports at Tipp and is looking forward to a big fall on the pitch is Mady Turner. She is a two-sport standout who shined at both the stadium in the fall and was a key contributor to the district championship basketball team back in the winter.

“I can’t believe that I am already at my final season,” Turner said. “I have had so much fun being a part of this program for the last three years.”

“This fall I have very high expectations for the season. We have a lot of experience returning from last year where I think we really started to build momentum and our connections together. All the girls are really close outside of soccer, which is great and will continue to help build our relationships on the field.”

Last year, the Red Devils finished in a four-way tie for the league title, and bringing home the championship this season is the first thing on her mind as she goes through the summer conditioning. 

“Winning the MVL league title outright has been something that we are striving for this year,” she said. “We have won a share of the title every year since 2021, with our last outright being in 2022. We really want to bring that outright title back to Tipp.”

“We also want to make the best tournament run we can and that starts with winning a district championship. Last time we played in the game was my freshman year, and we haven’t won it since 2019, so that is definitely another thing on our list of goals.”

This summer brings about a lot of hard work in this heat, and Turner knows it will pay off when the season begins. She is also working with her club team and her personal trainer to become the best athlete she can be.

“We are conditioning and training all summer, keeping all the in-season goals in mind to help push us,” she said. “We have been having open fields three times a week in June and will pick up more once July hits.”

“Currently I am still playing with my Ohio Galaxies FC team and am playing in ECNL RL Regionals in St. Louis to finish off the club season. I made the change to this team this past year, and I think it has really helped me develop my play.”

“I have also been training with Sam Faulkner at M-Power twice a week to gain strength, prevent injuries, and get faster.”

When the soccer season ends, she gets a few days to change her mindset to the hardwood as a member of the girls basketball team. After a trip to the regionals, she wants to make that next step with a very talented team coming back.

“The overall season last year was a dream,” she said. “Being able to be a part of a record breaking team was so much fun. The season definitely ended sooner than we had hoped, in the regional semis, to a really good CJ team. It definitely hurt watching them continue their run and eventually winning it all after how close we came in that game.”

“I think that puts extra motivation into us to want to get back to the same spot and farther. We are already back getting to work this summer with participating in different summer leagues and having a good showing at the Midwest Live to get the motivation instilled early for some of the new faces that weren’t a part of the program yet.”

Turner joined teammate Abbi Mader as a first-team all-conference basketball player last season, and she is excited to be back with a lot of the players who contributed last season, along with some new players hoping to make some noise.

“There definitely will be a mix of the new faces and returning experience. I think it will really help to have the experienced players returning be able to set an example as to what is expected out of us,” Turner said. “It really helps that across all sports when you go to Tipp there is an expectation of winning a league title, so even though there will be those new faces, everyone knows what the initial standard is.”

“After last season’s success, we understand how much we are capable of in terms of making another tournament run. Being able to establish good team camaraderie off the court will be very important in helping us play well together on the court. Last year we learned how beneficial that was to having our overall success as a program and want to continue that.”

Turner hopes to play soccer at the next level and has been on some recruiting visits already as she heads into her senior year.

“(I will) hopefully find the perfect place for me both athletically and academically,” she said. “This summer and fall will be an important time for me to help make my college decision.”

Turner noted some of her favorite moments so far at Tipp was starting in the district championship game her freshman year playing the top-ranked team in Ohio. Another soccer memory will be scoring a late game goal at Butler last season to share the league title.

In basketball, she will always remember the regional semifinal game last season

For basketball, one of my favorite memories is the entire regional semi game last year.

“Before the game, being both on the bus and in the locker room was so much fun. We were listening to loud music and were just having fun together. I think that showed when we went out and played. Even though we lost that game, I still had so much fun with the girls.”

“Another one of my favorite memories was being able to cut down two nets last year. We were very much overdue for both a league championship and a district championship. The fact we got to do it with that group of girls and seniors before they left meant a lot.”