McNamee reaches heights
Midway through the Christmas Concerto, lead violinist Kelly McNamee breaks into a huge grin. She often does the same thing if she pulls up just before attempting a jump at a track meet. No matter what stage she is on, the Ferris senior seems to be completely at ease.
“I have confidence in both (activities), which takes off a little bit of the stress,” she said. “I definitely think they help each other out.”
Considering the level at which she performs, that is a key ingredient in her success.
For years music defined McNamee, which explains why the concert mistress of the Ferris chamber orchestra smiles after a solo in Archangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso No. 8 in G Major.
“She’s better than me and I’ve played a long time,” said her father, Mike. “She has natural ability. It’s obvious when you hear her play.”
The same thing holds true in the high jump.
“She has mental toughness,” Ferris high jump coach Chris Caviness said. “She’s made a lot of big jumps.”
McNamee did more than win the State 4A championship when she cleared 5 feet, 10 inches last spring in Pasco. Only 10 high school girls in state history have jumped higher, none from Spokane County.
By bridging two worlds, McNamee “adds the cool factor to being in chamber,” Ferris orchestra instructor Carol Peterson said.
“I would say she is one of the most natural musicians I have ever taught. She has a beautiful sound,” Peterson said. “Not that she’ll choose a profession as a musician, but somebody that good shouldn’t stop playing. Now her path is track. The thing I admire about Kelly is she keeps them both balanced. Her music does not lessen because she spends more time in track and I’m hoping the same thing happens with track.”
“It’s two totally different worlds,” McNamee said. “Some people tell me I lead two different lives since its so different being a musician and being an athlete. As different as they are, I think working hard for something and getting used to working with different people really helps.”
McNamee is the 11th jumper to make 5-10 her career best, joining a group that includes Sally McCarthy of Medical Lake, who did it 30 years ago.
McNamee’s life jumped in a different direction as well.
“I started getting endless letters, endless phone calls,” she said. “Then it sunk in I had finally gotten to that level of actually pursuing this in college.”
She’ll do it with a full ride to the University of Washington.
“We never thought about a scholarship, but if anything, we thought it would be music,” said mother Pam. “We knew she liked sports, but we had no idea she’d latch on to this high jump thing.”
No one could have forecasted this.
McNamee preferred the hurdles in junior high, high jumping just once – clearing 4-4 if her memory is correct – and wasn’t sure she would turn out in high school.
“I take credit for her track career,” best friend Katie Davis said. “She said, ‘If you’re going to do it, I’ll do it.’ She wasn’t bad (in junior high), but she didn’t stand out.”
Head coach David VonBrethorst recruited Davis, a 5-foot high jumper, more than McNamee.
“She always told me she wasn’t sure, but we knew if we got Katie, Kelly was likely to come out,” he said. “We weren’t asking her to come out because we knew she was a great athlete, we were just trying to build numbers.”
McNamee’s hurdling talent was evident from the start. She was second in the 300s and third in the 100s at district and the next week missed by one spot of making state in the 100s. She was sixth at state last year and is a contender for a top medal this year at the state meet in Pasco that begins Friday. She’s also a threat in the long jump.
“It took half a season to figure out she’s a high jumper,” VonBrethorst said. “Maybe we would have figured it out, but we got lucky.”
As a freshman, McNamee progress rapidly, quickly clearing 5-0 and placing third at district with a jump of 5-4. Regional is when she came up with her first clutch jump, staying alive for a state berth by clearing 4-10 on her last attempt. She parlayed that into a third-place finish at state at 5-6, which became a burden.
“The whole sophomore year was kind of like watching a large ship change course,” VonBrethorst said. “It was a slow thing. She really struggled with her freshman success as a sophomore. She felt a ton of pressure. She wasn’t as happy. She was a little bit more down on herself.
“Winning Pasco (Invitational) as a sophomore, there wasn’t a sense of happiness. It was more of a sense of relief: ‘I was supposed to do that.’ “
At state she only cleared 5-5 when 5-6 won. That’s when she realized she wasn’t having fun and vowed to change, according to VonBrethorst.
Caviness said he noticed a big difference after McNamee attended camps before her junior year. He said it was evident in her speed to the bar, aggressive plant and knee drive.
“She’s a good athlete and a good listener,” he said. “She’s always been very coachable. She wants to learn. She still has that excitement.”
She has continued to have success in music with several trips to state competition the last three years, though she did make a tough decision.
“I told my parents I didn’t want to take private lessons this year, which was a big deal because I had been doing that since fourth grade,” she said. “I could tell they were disappointed … but they were very supportive.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, clearly this is where her heart is,” Mike McNamee said. “I hope she can keep playing at some level.”
The parents have learned about track on the fly.
“Neither of us did sports in high school (in Chicago). We were music people,” Pam McNamee said. “This is great. Coach VonBrethorst and Coach Caviness have changed Kelly’s life, this love of track, a scholarship.”
In addition to the demands of track and music, McNamee is an honor student with three AP classes.
“She’s really, really insanely energetic,” said Emmy Meiffjord, who plays the viola in McNamee’s string quartet. “She’s mischievous, but it’s a funny mischievous. She leads us in every one of our pranks and they always come out the best.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” Davis said, “but she’s close.”