Girls’ Athlete of the Year: Flintridge Sacred Heart’s Leroy becomes instant smash on pitch, track
Madison Leroy fit in perfectly during her first season playing soccer at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.
And whether it was on the soccer field or on the running track, Leroy shined on some of the biggest stages and helped elevate a pair of squads that got plenty accomplished.
It was in the winter when Leroy, a sophomore, played a key role in igniting a rebuilding soccer team’s return to glory.
Leroy helped Flintridge Sacred Heart (14-5-3, 3-2-3 in the Mission League for second place) advance to the CIF Southern Section Division III championship match, falling, 1-0, to top-seeded Oak Hills.
A week later, second-seeded Flintridge Sacred Heart stormed back to win the CIF Southern California Regional Division III title with a 3-0 victory against No. 5 Culver City at St. Francis High.
Leroy, a midfielder, finished with 25 goals and nine assists for 59 points. She picked up all-league and All-CIF accolades.
In track and field, Leroy took third in 50.39 second in the 300-meter hurdles in the Sunshine League finals at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High to qualify for the CIF Southern Section prelims.
It was because of those accomplishments that Leroy was selected the 2018-19 La Cañada Valley Sun Girls’ Athlete of the Year. It marked the first time Leroy was bestowed with the honor.
“She’s got that God-given talent to play the game and everything came natural for her,” Flintridge Sacred Heart soccer coach Mark Snashall said. “She works hard at everything and she likes facing challenges.”
Leroy scored what proved to be the winning goal in the regional title match for the Tologs. Leroy tallied that goal in the eighth minute to give the Tologs a 1-0 lead. Her accomplishment came about 48 hours after sustaining an apparent head injury during a semifinal contest against Grossmont.
Flintridge Sacred Heart won its first regional crown since 2010 and later won a CIF championship in 2011.
“It was really big to go out and get that first goal,” said Leroy, who finished with six goals in the regionals. “It sets the team up and you just want to keep going. “The ball hit the post and it seemed to take forever to get across to me and I finally was able to score.
“You want to be a part of something like this and there’s definitely a lot to be proud of since the first game of the season. I think we were very motivated throughout the playoffs, especially this tournament.”
Leroy definitely did her part, and stepped up when Sacred Heart needed her most.