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Three-sport star Breanne Kelley excels on the field and in the classroom
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Polson’s Breanne Kelley knows about hard work and success.
A three-time all-state track star, back-to-back all-state volleyball player, alll-state basketball player, 4.0 student and self-described master procrastinator, Kelley is showing everyone that it is possible to be a three-sport star while also excelling in the classroom.
While Kelley has seen a lot of success both on the field and in the classroom during her time at Polson High School so far, she has not let it go to her head.
“It can be hard sometimes,” she said. “It gets pretty tough to juggle everything at the end of the semester when term papers are due and there are end-of-semester tests. I don’t think it is really as hard as people think it would be, though.”
It all started for Kelley as a freshman, when she began her high school sports career as a starter for coach Jan Toth’s volleyball squad.
“I could see her desire to win as a freshman,” Toth said. “She and Kayla Duford would come in during open gym and play every time. I could just see something inside of Breanne that was more than just talent. She had great work ethic and a real desire to be the best at her position.”
While her freshman year may not have been filled with victories on the court, Kelley caught Toth’s eye during the tough season.
“I remember that first year when we had won only one match and I could see that she was going to hang in there,” Toth said. “I could see that desire to win.”
That desire to win and determination not to give up paid off for Kelley her junior year when she was named all-state after her and the Lady Pirates finished fourth at the state tournament.
The success carried over into this season as Kelley finished first in the Northwestern A Conference with 203 kills and was once again named an all-state player.
Kelley has had a strong connection to sports her entire life as her mom, Tammy, is the Polson freshman volleyball coach, her father, Randy, is the varsity girls basketball coach and her uncle, Rob Kelley, is the Polson high jump and pole vaulting coach.
“Honestly, I just feel kind of lucky to have my parents helping me so much,” Breanne said. “I couldn’t do it without them. They are always there encouraging me when things get tough.”
Breanne began playing basketball for her father when he was her coach in eighth grade, but their time together on the court continued the following year as Randy took over varsity coaching job at Polson High School.
Breanne’s performance on the basketball court reached a new high last season when she helped lead the team to the state tournament and was named to the all-state team. Along the way, she led the conference in steals with 3.15 per game and was fourth in scoring at 11.6 points per contest.
When asked what the key is to his daughter’s success, Randy said he is not really sure how she pulls it off.
“How does she do it? I don’t really know,” he said. “She’s a hard worker and she is very competitive. I think that probably has a lot to do with it. I do like the way she has handled herself with all of this success, though. She has stayed humble and very modest.”
While Breanne has seen much success on the volleyball and basketball courts, her top performances have come on the track for the Lady Pirates. In her three years at the varsity level, Kelley has amassed 14 state medals and been a part of two Polson state championship teams (2008, 2010).
According to Polson track coach Bob Gunderson, he knew that she would be good before she even reached high school.
“She was great as an eighth grader,” he said. “She’s always been good. She’s been running track since the third grade.”
Gunderson said he knew Kelley was going to be a special athlete for his program her freshman year when she took the time to practice despite being in drivers education.
“She would come back out to the track to practice after driving and after supper,” Gunderson said. “She could have just blown off those practices, but she didn’t.”
While Breanne has done well in all three of the sports she plays, she says it would be hard to name one as her favorite.
“I’m not really sure which one I would call my favorite,” she said. “It’s between volleyball and basketball, though. It’s not track because I don’t really like running. I like running when it feels like there is a purpose, like during basketball. Just racing around and running in circles isn’t really a whole lot of fun.”
Admittedly, though, Kelley says she runs with a purpose many mornings as she races the half block from her house to the school to get in her seat before the bell rings to start class.
While Kelley is a self-proclaimed master of procrastination, it hasn’t seemed to hurt her in the classroom where she has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average. Playing sports can make things tough from time to time, she admits.
“It can get kind of rough during tournaments and far away games on school nights when you don’t get back until late,” she said. “Track doesn’t really take up a lot of time but I seem to procrastinate more towards the end of the year, so I would say that is the hardest time of the year for me in my classes.”
Kelley says her procrastination even extends to her future plans as she has not yet decided which college she wants to attend next year or which sport she would like to continue playing.
“I know I want to go on and play either basketball or volleyball somewhere, maybe even both,” she said. “As far as where I am going or what I want to major in, I have no idea yet.”
While she may not have settled on a college yet, Breanne has been presented with many opportunities as coaches have already begun contacting her about her future.
Kelley has two more sports seasons before her high school career comes to a close, but she does have some sage advice for younger students wishing to follow in her footsteps.
“Even though I do it, I would tell anyone coming into high school not to procrastinate like me,” she said. “There have been some times when I had to stay up way too late to get things done.”
Even with her tendency to put things off until the last minute, Kelley’s coaches are more than happy to have her on their teams.
“She’s a quiet leader but she makes everyone around her play better,” Toth said. “The younger players see what she does in practice and in a game and they try to learn how to those things too. She makes everyone better players.”
“She is just a really great person. She has a really nice character, too,” Toth added. “To have that quality of athleticism coupled with great character, you can’t get a better athlete than that. It’s super rare.”
