INDIAN RIVER- Inland Lakes graduate Natalie Wandrie, is a quad sport all state athlete in volleyball, basketball, softball and track & field, in both her junior and senior years, breaking multiple school records. She was also named to the NCFA All-American third team for softball, being the only player in the state of Michigan to make an all-American team.
In her junior year the Bulldogs volleyball team made it all the way to the championship but lost. It was a time in her life that stood out, and she knew she wanted to be a part of championship weekend again.
““I don’t think I will ever have an experience like it. That team was probably the closest, close-knit team I’ve ever been on. Coming off of that State Championship run, we didn’t win, but we got runner-up, so I count it. We came off of that and immediately our goal was we want to get back to Kellogg Arena.”
This past season even though the team didn’t make it to the final weekend, losing in the quarterfinals, Wandrie finished second in school history for kills in a season. One of the few school records she didn’t break in the four sports that she played.
Wandrie went from one amazing season to the next, in basketball she became the top scorer in school history tallying 1,301 points in her four years as a Bulldog. She also led her team to a 20-6 record, going all the way to the regional final, before falling to Mackinaw City.
“It was a great season, ended up being top scorer in my entire school’s history, which was not on the radar at all. I just wanted to be in the 1,000-point club. That was always the goal from when I was like 5 years old.”
When the spring rolled around it was time for Wandrie to get on the diamond as well as be part of the Bulldogs track & field team. She broke the school’s home run record, hitting 24 dingers which landed her fifth in the state for most home runs in a single season, as the Bulldogs reached the regional semifinals.
“Last year I only had 15, and so like that wasn’t, that was not on my radar at all. But then I started getting closer, and my Mom was like ‘you’re getting close,’ and I was like ‘okay’.”
As softball districts rolled around it was time for her to put that bat down and compete for state titles in track & field. She threw her personal record in the shot put on her first throw, winning a state championship, even though she wasn’t impressed with her own distance.
““I wanted to hit 40 [feet]. I was four inches off, but we’re not going to talk about that.”
Wandrie then won a second state championship, launching the discus 128 feet, 11 inches, earning her all-state honors in all four sports, and taking home two state championships.
The hardest part of Wandrie’s senior year, was deciding what sports to play in college.
“I actually picked out of a bowl, like I put each sport on a piece of paper, put them in a bowl, swirled them around, picked out two, and was like ‘okay, I’m going to try to get recruited in these two sports.’”
Wandrie will be attending Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky, playing softball and volleyball in addition to double majoring.