Karlie Mellott is a 2014 graduate and was an avid member of both the softball and golf teams which earned her four varsity letters in softball and two in golf.
In softball, Karlie was a four-year varsity starter, earning NIB-12 All-Conference honors all four years. Karlie came out swinging in her freshman year, earning 3rd team All-State honors at the end of the season. Still, she improved on her own impressive feats in her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, as she was awarded 1st team All-State honors at the end of each season, making her a four-year All-State member. As a junior, Karlie additionally earned All-Area honors, Co-Conference MVP, and was named Sauk Valley Media Co-Player of the Year. While dominating on the fields, Karlie still managed to excel in the classroom, earning All-Conference academic honors both her junior and senior years.
In her outstanding four years on the softball team, Karlie broke four different Sterling High School records: career hits (224), career doubles (45), career triples (20), and runs scored (194). After four years of varsity play, she even earned two statewide softball records. Karlie finished 13th in the state of Illinois for career hits with a total of 224 and 12th in the state of Illinois for career runs scored with a total of 194.
The team’s accomplishments during Karlie’s high school softball career are almost as momentous as her own. The softball team finished with 30 wins her freshman year, 31 wins her sophomore year, 28 wins her junior year, and 31 wins her senior year, breaking the S.H.S. record for the most wins in a season. During her junior year, the team won the regional title, the sectional title, the super-sectional title, and finished 4th in the state. In her senior season, the team managed to improve on their accomplishments by again winning regionals, sectionals, and super-sectionals, and ultimately finished 3rd in the state.
Off the softball fields, Karlie was also a varsity member of the girls’ golf team her freshman and sophomore years. At the regional golf meet her freshman year, Karlie placed 3rd advancing her on to the sectional meet where, unfortunately, she fell short of qualifying for state. As a sophomore, however, she placed 3rd overall at sectionals, earning a spot at the state tournament. Karlie represented the team well and tied for 14th at the IHSA state competition after she shot an 84 in the first round and an 80 in the second round for a 36 hole score of 164. At the end of each season, Karlie earned NIB-12 All-Conference honors and was named MVP for the team her freshman and sophomore years.
Outside athletics, Karlie was involved in marching and symphonic band for four years in high school. As a junior and a senior, she was also a member of National Honor Society, Key Club, Science Club, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Following graduation, Karlie attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and was a member of their softball team for a year and a half. After college, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to work as a research assistant for a lithium battery start-up company and spends her time outside work playing softball and training for a triathlon.