Meghan Kidd had plenty of reasons to celebrate.
She just couldn’t find the time.
Kidd, a senior at Archbishop Ryan High School, had quite a day Saturday. Not only did she enjoy a great day as an individual, making All-Catholic in the 200 and 500 freestyle race during the Catholic League championships at La Salle University, she had a hand in two relay championships, qualified for the state meet in those relays and guided the Ragdolls to their second Catholic League championship in three years.
So after competing in two meets (the District 12 meet was Saturday night), Kidd didn’t take part in a massive party with her teammates. She didn’t even sleep in and enjoy a quiet day at home. She didn’t do either. She was back in the grind.
“I had softball practice from 12 to 3, so I was out there,” said Kidd, also a star third baseman for the Ragdolls. “It wasn’t for Ryan, it was for my club team (the Nightmare). I’m starting to get ready for Ryan, too, though, so I’m glad I had it.”
They say practice makes perfect, and while Kidd might not be perfect in the pool, she certainly had a perfect ending to her Catholic League career, which will likely only continue for a few more weeks because she plans on focusing on softball in college.
Kidd, along with her teammates Allison Henry, Hannah Storm, Alyssa Sieck and Sarah Vargas, are headed to Bucknell University to compete in the state meet early next month. But the bigger accomplishment might have been for the team, which took its crown back after falling to Archbishop Wood last year.
Ryan won with 570.5 points, Wood took second at 523 and St. Hubert’s came in third with 270 points. Little Flower came in sixth with 197.
On the boys side, La Salle came in first, St. Joe’s Prep took second and Father Judge finished third.
The championship was Ryan coach Ed Macko’s 12th in 21 seasons.
“It felt so good because last year, we knew what it was like to lose, so I think we wanted it more,” said Kidd, a Somerton resident. “Plus, we have eight seniors on the team and it was really important for us to go out winners.
“We had a really good day. The Catholic League championship was good and so was the District (12) meet. We had a great day.”
Kidd hopes she and her teammates put on a great showing at the state championship, but she admits making it was a huge accomplishment. Now she has a lot of work to do on the diamond to prepare for the Ragdolls to defend their softball championship, but she’s still going to find time to train for swimming.
“We’ll probably take a few days off and then get back into it,” Kidd said. “We will start and then increase our yardage every day because we tapered for the championship. But I’ll also have softball starting up, so I’ll be doing that, too.
“Coach Macko is very flexible for us, as long as we get it in, he knows we have softball. I’m looking forward to going to Bucknell because it’s going to be fun, going to a college and swimming. We know the other teams are really good, we’ll go up and do our best.”
Kidd has a lot to be proud of at Ryan from an athletic standpoint. She’s won championships, she’s earned All-Catholic and she’s been a great leader on all of her teams. But her best accomplishment at the school may have come in a completely different way.
When Kidd was a sophomore, she teamed up with Dylan Daniels to bring Athletes Helping Athletes to the school. The group teams special-needs athletes with mainstream student-athletes.
“We saw we didn’t have it, so we contacted Athletes Helping Athletes and found out how to bring it to Ryan,” Kidd said. “It’s really exciting because they have so much fun, and so do we. They like to be part of the team, and they really are. We love having them.”
Kidd and Daniels are excited about hosting an Athletes Helping Athletes prom next month, so it’s another thing Kidd can add to her to-do list for the end of her senior year.
One thing she doesn’t have to worry about is picking a college, or finding a major. That’s all been sorted out.
“I am going to play softball next year at West Chester,” Kidd said. “I’m going to major in nursing. I don’t know, I’ve always liked studying science and I think I have a good relationship with people and l like working with them. Eventually, I’d like to be a pediatric oncology nurse, but that’s the end goal.”
And while she’ll give up swimming at West Chester, she’ll stay involved in other things she’s passionate about.
“They don’t have Athletes Helping Athletes, but they do have the Special Olympics,” she said. “I’ll probably get involved with that because it’s something that’s important.”
