Maumee junior is three-sport standout
Written by Dave Herndon | | news@toledofreepress.com
Lindsay Diegel is 5’3” and barely 100 pounds. She is also a three-sport athlete.
Diegel, a junior at Maumee High School, has earned eight varsity letters, and will have her ninth at the conclusion of spring. She will have 12 varsity letters by next spring.
“A lot of people underestimate me because of my size,” Diegel said. “Sometimes that is an advantage for me.”
The surprises for her athletic career started her freshman year during the fall tennis season. Diegel had not played competitively before, nor had she been playing for long, but after tryouts she had earned a spot at No. 2 singles.
“She came home and said that she had made the varsity team; that was a big surprise to us,” her father, Keith Diegel, said.
When basketball season rolled around, she once again earned a varsity spot, as the starting point guard. In the spring she earned a spot as the starting shortstop on the softball team. The softball team was the third sport she was a starter on in her freshman year.
As a sophomore, Diegel earned spots on the first team Northern Lakes League softball and basketball teams.
She hit .327 last season while earning the nickname of “The Vacuum” for her stout defense.
“I spend a lot of time working on all of the sports in the summer. I play on some travel teams and stuff like that,” Diegel said.
The accolades continued to pile up this year; she has earned first team NLL honors in tennis and basketball and was named honorable mention all-state for basketball.
She averaged 16.4 points per game during the basketball season, and posted a 16-5 record as the top singles player in tennis before winning the sectional tournament at No. 1 doubles.
Diegel also excels in the classroom, where she has posted a 3.9 grade-point average.
“It’s gotten easier to balance everything this year because my classes are a little easier,” Diegel said.
The high school junior is already being courted by a number of colleges.
“Concordia is probably the biggest school looking at me, but there are a lot of other schools that have contacted me,” Diegel said.
“Because of her size, she isn’t getting offers from Division I schools, but there are a lot of Division II and III schools that want her,” her father said.
