RISE selects Bishop Kelly High School standout as Gatorade Oklahoma Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year

In its third decade of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade joined with RISE Magazine to name senior goalkeeper KATIE BYKOWSKI of BISHOP KELLY HIGH in Tulsa as its 2007-08 Oklahoma Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-9 senior goalkeeper recorded 13 shutouts and allowed just six goals, leading the Comets to a second straight 18-0 season and the Class 5A state championship, Bishop Kelley’s 10th straight state title. An All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the returning Player of the Year as named by the Tulsa World, Bykowski totaled 50 shutouts in her career while surrendering only 22 goals. Also a member of the United States Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program Region III player pool, she has helped Bishop Kelley to three of the school’s nine consecutive state championships.

Also a standout basketball player, Bykowski has maintained a 3.45 GPA in the classroom. She participates in multiple community-service initiatives, mentoring younger students in the Stillwater Public Schools system, rescuing pets from area shelters and caring for them on behalf of Tulsa’s Animal Rescue Foundation until they are adopted, and donating her time to TOPSoccer’s outreach program for mentally and physically challenged children.

“She’s probably one of the best goalkeepers I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot of teams,” said Jeff Tissue, Bykowski’s coach with the Tulsa Soccer Club. “She’s got great hands. If it hits her in the hands, she catches it. Players have a lot of confidence with her back there.”

Bykowski has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer at the University of Tulsa this fall.