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ILLINOIS WATER POLO |
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Monday - April 26, 2004
Keely Wimer Putting The Finishing Touches On a Stellar Career By Aaron Brown -
The senior captain has played at the Varsity level for all four years of her career. She was selected to the All-State Third Team as a freshman, and to the All-State First Team the following two seasons. She has led her team in scoring for all four years as well, with a total tally of 458 goals and a handful of games still remaining. She was also listed as a fourth team All-American after her sophomore year and was named a second team All-American as a junior. - Keely has a strong water polo background, as her brother Sean was an excellent player in Illinois and her father Jeff is currently her club and high school coach. Keely has been playing water polo for the past twelve years, mainly with the Northern Illinois Polo Club. She also played with the Midwest Youth Team in 2002 and 2003 and for the Midwest Junior Team in 2004. "I started when I was six years old because my brother played," she said. "I always looked up to him; so naturally, I followed him to the pool." - As a club player, Keely was a member of the NIPC team that won the Speedo Cup National Championship in 1999. The following year, she was a member of the 2000 Junior Olympics National Championship team at the 14 & Under level, which was the first team from outside of California to win the title at the time. Her performance helped her earn USA Water Polo status as an All-American in 2000 and 2001. - Keely's father has been a major influence in her success, and she also cites her mother Kathy as being her biggest fan and critic. "I am the average teen in that I like to aggravate my parents once in awhile," she said. "When my dad tells me I am doing something (in a game), I like to get in there and prove him wrong." She added: "Playing for my dad has always been a challenge; however, I think it’s been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve learned so many valuable lessons and I couldn’t have asked to learn them from better people – my mom and my dad." - As an excellent student, Keely maintains a unweighted 3.86 grade point average at Stevenson. She was inducted into the National Honors Society as a sophomore and has been on the Gold Honor Roll for all four of her years in high school. She will attend Loyola Marymount University in California to play water polo and major in business next year.
In her free time, Keely loves to dance. She enjoys watching South Park, The Simpsons, The Sopranos, and reruns of SNL and Sex and the City. More importantly, she is also a big Cubs fan. - As her career in Illinois comes close to the end, Keely is very appreciative of the people she has encountered in this sport. "I want to thank the senior zone girls and the coaches I’ve been playing with, for, and against all these years – it’s made water polo a friendlier, more fun, more exciting, more competitive, and all-around better experience in general." -
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AIM illpoloballer |
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