POLK COUNTY standout athlete Maclain Yowarshy has chosen to play tennis at Lee University. Present at her signing were, seated from left, mother Viva Addison, Yowarsky, sister Bridger Yowarsky, father Mike Yowarsky; back, Polk County basketball coach Johnny Hayes, Walker Valley tennis coach Elaine Policastro, and Lee tennis coach Tony Cavett and Al Schuelke.
In a couple of weeks Yowarsky will graduate from Polk County High. Because Polk does not field a tennis team, the TSSAA allowed the talented athlete to travel to northern Bradley County each afternoon and practice and play with the Walker Valley team.
"I have known ‘Mac’ since she was in the sixth grade," said Lee tennis coach Tony Cavett. "We have spent many hours on the tennis courts over the years and I feel like she will become a very good college player. A lot of the girls on our team already know her, so I feel she will have an easy transition in becoming a part of the team."
Coach Johnny Hayes, Yowarsky's basketball coach at Polk, said she always gave it 100 percent on the court. "She's a hard worker and was in the gym constantly working on her game. I knew she was also a tennis player. She had some college basketball options, but I'm glad she's doing what she feels is best for her college career."
Walker Valley tennis coach Elaine Policastro points out that Maclain will be the No. 1 seed in the district tournament. "She was 14-2 for us this year and an outstanding all-around athlete," added the coach. "She always has a good, positive attitude."
“All-around” is no doubt the best way to describe Cavett's new recruit. Her resume also shows volleyball and she ran cross country at Polk County. She even gave softball and soccer a try when she was in elementary school.
"My dad (Mike) wanted me to play an individual sport," Maclain said.
So at the age of 10, she took up tennis. But she didn't forget the other sports. As a freshman at Cleveland High, she played three sports. Involved in multiple sports, she has been named all-region in tennis, basketball and cross country, and been a part of state tournaments in three different sports, basketball, tennis and cross country twice.
As a tennis player, she's won various summer tournaments and her USTA ranking has climbed to as high as No. 5, but she admits she has spent most of her recent summer months playing AAU basketball.
She gives credit to her father for having the biggest influence on her tennis career.
"I've had various people, but the biggest influence and help by far came from my dad," Maclain noted.
Lee's new tennis addition has also claimed academic awards.
"I won the scholastic award for our cross country team, both my junior and senior years, and a member of a few academic organizations at Polk County," she added. "I want to go into physical therapy. My long range goal is to work with athletes not only in rehab, but also to improve performance."
"I selected Lee due to it being a great institution. Having grown up in Cleveland, I knew it had a great reputation and had everything I was looking for in a university," she continued. "I made various visits and was considering Coastal Georgia, North Georgia, Tampa University and Eastern Kentucky. I had been considering playing basketball in college, but decided on tennis. Once I did, I knew where I wanted to go."
As noted earlier by her high school coaches, Maclain said, "I want to come in and work hard to improve my overall game and help the team in any way. As a player I want to reach my potential and be the best player I can be. I want to be a positive influence on my team and schoolmates as well as making life-long friendships. I feel my strong points are my serving ability, my ability as both a single or doubles player and my overall athletic ability. The main areas I feel I need to improve on is my footwork and my consistency of my ground strokes."
