Local News Archive

Print Issue: May 2, 2002

Gifted Athlete, Student Heads For Notre Dame

Kellie Middleton also plays shortstop on the school's fast-pitch softball team. The Marist senior will be attending the University of Notre Dame this coming fall, where she was awarded a full softball scholarship. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

By KATHERINE ROWLEY, Special To The Bulletin

ATLANTA-Receiving a full scholarship to Notre Dame isn't all that common. But Kellie Middleton, Marist senior, isn't just a common teenager. Kellie received the scholarship for playing fast-pitch softball. She chose Notre Dame out of a long list of possibilities, including Stanford, Princeton and Furman.

When Kellie was visiting the Notre Dame campus, she prayed for a sign that she was on the right track. Kellie explains, "When I was walking by the stadium, I prayed God would send me a sign. I always ask for a bird. When I looked up, birds flew from Jesus' hands all the way to the horizon. That made me say, 'Okay, I'm going.'"

Kellie is a gifted athlete, who in addition to playing shortstop on the softball team is on the basketball and track teams. She has been playing softball since she was three years old. She loves the sport because "there's so much to improve on no matter how good you get."

Every game she plays, Kellie prays for the safety of the athletes and remembers her favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

"Then I just go out there and use what He gave me," she said.

Kellie has won a number of awards, including four-time All County, Region, and State, Player of the Year, two-time Best Offense, Best Defense, and Most Valuable Player.

One of four children of Albert and Karen Middleton, Kellie's family is very supportive in everything that she does. They are her role models, especially her mother and younger brother, William. William, who suffers from tendonitis, is her role model because "despite his bad knees, he still aspires to be strong and do his best."

Another person who has inspired Kellie is Marion Jones, Olympic track and field athlete and five-time gold medal winner.

Like Jones, Kellie hopes to go to the Olympics for softball in 2004 and win a gold medal.

But her most important goal for the future is to "positively affect someone's life."

Kellie's faith is very important to her. Her family attends St. Patrick's Church in Norcross. Her Catholicism is what sustains her and how she stays close to God, she said.

Kellie Middleton, second from the right, leaves the starting line during the 100-meter heat of the state regional track meet at Lakewood Stadium April 22. Middleton also competed in the 200-meter sprint, the 4x100 relay, the 4x400 relay and the long jump.

Katherine Rowley is a senior at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, and the features editor of the St. Pius newspaper, "Golden Lines."