Regardless of the sport, Madison Tisa McPhee is a cold blooded killer. She just hides it behind a sunny personality.
Don’t call it a comeback, cause she never left.
Madison Tisa McPhee never got the chance to cap her brilliant track season last year with a second trip to the state meet. Derailed by a season-ending suspension for being at a bonfire where alcohol was present, the Coupeville High School senior has emerged from the flurry of charges, counter-charges and hurt feelings at the end of school last year with a new focus. And a slight chip on her shoulder.
“I’m approaching my senior year of track with my head held high and ashamed of nothing,” Tisa McPhee said. “Last year didn’t end the way I would have liked but it’s over and done; this year is for making it all the way and breaking school records.
“I’m going to come in to the season stronger and faster than I did last season, and maybe even a little blood thirsty and continue the strength and speed throughout it all,” she added. “Last year my school was with out a doubt trying to make an example out of me and the others, but it didn’t and won’t affect anyone else but the five of us.“
With her eyes firmly on the prize of running hurdles in college, Tisa McPhee continues to fine-tune her skills on the oval. Now, she’ll have to just fine-tune her range of school choices.
“Since I was in 3rd grade and started snowboarding, I have had my heart set on Western, but after touring other schools, Central really caught my eye,” Tisa McPhee said. “I want nothing more than to run in college! The level of intensity is what I’m looking for and I feel like having that in my life will keep me on track … no pun intended.”
After not running as a freshman, she spent the past two seasons destroying most of what the Cascade Conference could throw at her, often reducing her big-school competitors to a mass of big, salty tears at being beat so convincingly by a runner from a rock in the middle of nowhere. Now, after attending a training camp at the University of Washington, competing in summer track meets (where she ran the college-style 400 meter hurdles instead of the high school-style 300) and watching college runners, she has begun to tinker ever so slightly with her already impressive running style.
“The positive I took away from my junior track season was getting a start on mastering three-stepping — taking three steps in between each hurdle — in the 100 meter hurdles,” Tisa McPhee said. “The big girls (collegiate hurdlers) do it, so I need to get it down.
“By three-stepping, my times should decrease,” she added. “But my legs aren’t the longest, so it’s quite a stretch. I just have to continue to build up my muscle and growing wouldn’t hurt either.”
Never one to slow down, Tisa McPhee has spent a chunk of her summer astride her trusty steed, Maddee. An accomplished barrel racer, she went to her second nationals in Blackfoot, Idaho in July, where she placed in the top ten three times in an age group that drew 65+ riders. She crushed the field at the Island County Fair and has earned first stall at the state fair in Puyallup.
When her feet do touch the ground, she is building endurance for track season by forgoing volleyball — which she played for the past three years — and returning to her first love, the soccer pitch.
From the outside, it might have seemed like a sudden change, but that’s not the case. A booter since age six, she graduated from the Shriner league to middle school ball, then played on a select team until high school. So, in a way, she’s capping her CHS days by coming home.
“Soccer used to be a big part of my life … well, it was my life,” Tisa McPhee said. “Soccer I feel is like a true calling, over volleyball, and, really, I’m a much better soccer player than volleyball player.
“Senior year, I want to have as much fun as possible and I believe that with soccer I will have more fun. I really like all the girls on the team,” she added. “My hopes are to regain the ball handling skills, dribbling, shooting, etc., so I can be an asset to the team.”
But fair warning to all. Fall is for fun. Spring is for unleashing total freakin’ domination.
Coupeville Sports 