Courtesy photo
LeAnn Palo

Being named Eastside Scholar-Athlete of the Year has double significance to LeAnn Palo.

The recent WHS grad says, “I’m so honored because this award is a combination of both on and off the court success and it is important to me that I was able to achieve in each of these arenas.”

Palo was unaware of the Journal’s tradition in naming scholar-athletes of the year and almost didn’t attend the 31st annual Eastside Prep Athlete of the Year banquet for finalists.

She didn’t think she would be chosen and as the event occurred the night before graduation, she was distracted by other things going on in her life at the time.

When Palo arrived and saw the large crowd of people, it dawned on her that perhaps this was a bigger deal than she had initially assumed. When her name was called for this prestigious distinction, she was totally surprised. “I really couldn’t believe it was me,” comments Palo, “especially when I knew the competition I was up against.”

For this determined young woman, excelling in academics and in sports has been the number one goal. A perfectionist by nature, she has always pushed herself to do the best in her studies and as a basketball player.

“I don’t stop until I get things right,” explains Palo. “It’s important to me to master whatever I set out to do. I think my drive comes from my mom because she’s very persistent and doesn’t give up easily.”

Being a varsity player and taking a number of Advanced Placement courses in high school is definitely more than a full load for any student.

For Palo, the key to excelling in both was to make wise use of her time. She adds, “Time management is what I learned through all of this, but it really helped that I was able to focus well, too.” She combated fatigue many nights after coming home from a long practice or from a late away game only to begin what would amount to several hours of homework.

“Doing well in school has always been a priority,” says Palo, “so many times I sacrificed sleep in order to be well prepared for class.”

Her efforts on the academic side earned her a sterling 3.985 grade point average. On the court, she averaged a team-best 17 points a game for the Falcons and holds more than a dozen school records, including points in a single season, assists in a career and three pointers in a career. There was never really any question for Palo that basketball was her sport.

She began playing in second grade and was drawn to the game because of its fast pace and constant intense action.

“It’s exciting,” she explains. “Basketball’s never boring because there are so many different things happening. You live in the moment with basketball and you have to think fast and act quickly. I really like the challenge of the game.”

In her early years, the sport came easily to Palo, but as she got older, she had to work harder to do well. She practiced as much as she could, attended camps and clinics and played for numerous teams. Her skills improved, but she never attracted great attention until she got to high school.

Then people began to notice her and she started to assume a leadership role for her team. “I realized that it’s really not how well you do as an individual, but how well the team works together that makes the difference,” says Palo. “I’m most proud of the fact that I was a career leader of assists, because helping others to score was a very satisfying accomplishment to me.”

When Palo was a sophomore at WHS, the girls’ basketball team had a poor record with only seven wins in the season. Once Coach Steve Segadelli came aboard the next year, the team began to gel and winning, not losing games, was the norm.

“We played like a true team,” explains Palo. “Each of us had our strengths and we capitalized on them. This past year was the best because we took the team to the 4A State Tournament. Woodinville hadn’t taken a team there in I think 10 years. We ended up coming in seventh. All of us felt so proud of that accomplishment because we knew we had worked hard to make it happen. It was such a great feeling and it’s an equally good feeling to know that we contributed to creating a positive reputation for Woodinville’s program.”

Palo is headed to Utah State University this fall on a full athletic scholarship. She plans to study economics and business off the court, while contributing her skills on the court as a member of the school’s women’s basketball team.

According to Palo, Utah State’s team didn’t do too well last year, but it is now in a new conference which will hopefully help its situation.

She says, “The team is relatively young because it didn’t get sufficient funding until the late 90s, so it’s working on getting its own identity. I plan to learn what I can from the other players and the coach and make contributions whenever possible.”

Palo sees her ball handling skills as her strength, in addition to her acute court sense. Defensive skills are an area she still feels she needs to work on, particularly the ability to anticipate and pick off passes or steal the ball from the opposing team. She is looking forward to meeting new people, traveling do different places with the team and seeing how far the game can take her.

“I’m not ruling out making basketball a career because it would be a dream to play basketball professionally or play overseas. Right now, though, I’m just excited to take the next step in my life.”