Athletes Of The Week: McKenzie Millard

Only a sophomore, C.B. Aycock’s McKenzie Millard has quickly learned to embrace the grind of being a student-athlete.

Millard, who plays softball, basketball and tennis, started playing sports competitively at a young age, and now, a few years later, she is a crucial piece on all three teams.

“My main sport is probably softball, but I like them all kind of the same,” Millard said.

The work Millard has put in on and off the field has paid dividends for the Golden Falcons. On the basketball court, she is the Golden Falcons’ point guard.

She helped the Golden Falcons have an 8-5 record, their first winning season since 2015.

“We made the most of it, and it was really fun,” Millard said about the basketball season.

Her coaches praise Millard for her competitive mentality. And it is no surprise that Millard keeps getting better. On the softball diamond this season, Millard had a .618 batting average, a .740 on-base percentage, eight RBIs and two doubles.

As a team, the Golden Falcons finished the season with a 9-5 overall record.

“This season was really fun. We didn’t get as long as a season as I would’ve liked, but it’s okay. We still had a really good season,” Millard said. “My favorite part is just being with my teammates.”

Over on the tennis court, Millard plays in the No. 2 singles spot.

Millard feels at home playing sports, and she is hoping to build on her strong sophomore season.

While playing multiple sports can be exhausting and is a lot of work, Millard embraces the grind. She said it is not worth devoting countless hours to it if you do not genuinely love it, and she feels lucky she does.

“I just schedule everything out, and I have to mentally and physically write it down because if I don’t, then I’ll schedule everything wrong,” Millard said. “I found a balance between it all, and it’s nice.”

Millard is also a member of DECA and was invited to be a member of the National Honor Society.