Rockets' grad Balko shooting for stars at Northwood

It’s pretty smart for any high school soccer coach to have a valedictorian for a go-to player. Even more so when it’s Kaitlyn Balko, who recently graduated from Westland John Glenn.

Under Rockets’ first-year head coach Khalid Suleiman, the team made incremental strides — improving from a dismal 2-14 record in 2016 to a 4-11-1 ledger this spring.

Always there for her teammates, whether on the pitch or on the bus to a road game, was co-captain Balko. The squad’s inspirational leader next year will get the opportunity to play women’s soccer at Northwood University.

“As a captain I enjoyed having more of an influence on and off the field and being able to help the girls and coaches,” said Balko, who earned valedictorian status for her grade-point average of 4.02. “The team jokingly called me the ‘team mom.’”

Although the Rockets did not fare as well as they hoped to in 2017, the team culture began undergoing a makeover largely because of Balko.

“She is the brick and stone to this team which holds all the girls together,” noted Suleiman following an early season win over Farmington in which Balko’s positive attitude was a key factor.

The oldest of Ryan and Tosya’s four children, the 17-year-old Kaitlyn will major in accounting at Northwood while playing her favorite sport. She and her siblings all play for the Wayne-Westland Arsenal club team, which will help her continue to stay sharp for the Northwood season.

Northwood is a NCAA Division II private school in Midland.

“I'm most looking forward to the experience I'll have while attending Northwood,” Kaitlyn Balko noted. “I can't wait to step into a new world while also getting to continue playing the sport I love. I know that altogether I'll have a great time at Northwood.”

According to Balko, a forward, she will bring from John Glenn some important lessons about “how to persevere and overcome obstacles.”

“Playing with girls that you usually don't see in the club season can be difficult when trying to come together for high school season and finding out each other's playing style,” she explained. “But at the end we were still able to succeed as a team every year.”

Probably her biggest goal was graduating June 3 with valedictorian honors; all 14 John Glenn seniors who finished with a cumulative 4.0 GPA received that honor.

Also valedictorian were four-year swimmer Hannah Cizauskas, Sidney Aloisi, Megan Buford, Nickolas Butkevich, Joseph Chalifour, Shelby Ferrell, Christopher Hunt, Christiaan Irvine, Jessie Jordan, Dajana Korcari, Alexandra Lachine, Adaeze Ogbuaku and Kera Sells.

“Being named valedictorian was a goal that I always had throughout high school and to have achieved that goal means so much to me,” Balko added. “I worked hard in every class all four years of high school and was able to do the same all four years while playing varsity soccer at John Glenn.”

tsmith@hometownlife.com

Twitter: @TimSmith_Sports