By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

When Kaylee Woodruff found out she’d be in lane of the 100 butterfly final at the Division I swimming championships Nov. 8 in Mesa, she knew the special challenges that entailed.

Woodruff ended up doing the best she could with lane 9, placing eighth in the butterfly final. Less than an hour earlier, the senior placed third in the 50 freestyle, so she made it to the medal podium once on the last day of her Eagle swimming career.

“It’s a little bit of a disadvantage,” Woodruff said of competing in lane 9 in Skyline High School’s 10-lane pool. “You have to kind of watch out for the backsplash from the middle lanes, so if you’re on the outside, you have to kind of follow an outside wave.”

Woodruff also placed eighth overall in the Nov. 7 preliminaries in the butterfly, despite having the second-fastest seed time, which is why she didn’t end up with one of those prime lanes, 4 through 6, in the final.

“I did all right this year,” Woodruff said of her overall state performance. “Butterfly was something new I tried this year. Overall, it was a fun senior experience.”

Woodruff is probably best-known as an athlete for her volleyball skills. She’s verbally committed to Grand Canyon University to play sand volleyball there.

Woodruff placed second in the 50 freestyle both in 2023 as a sophomore and again last year. She also placed third in the 100 freestyle in 2024.

O’Connor had a larger fan and supporter contingent this year at the championships.

“We got more people to come out and support and help,” Woodruff said.

Those supporters trekked to Mesa to see Woodruff help lead the Eagle girls to 19th place in Division I with 51 team points, behind West Valley rival Mountain Ridge, whose 79 points placed 15th.

Woodruff led the girls 400 meter freestyle relay team to a state qualification as well. Sophomore Emerson Koury, freshman Lilliana Kolomitz and junior Madysen Thude competed on that relay with Woodruff at state.

The O’Connor boys placed 31st in Division I with 12 points.

Woodruff said senior leadership means, in part, to not only lead by example, but also to know your role and all your teammates’ roles.

“It’ a little bit more planning that you need to do — getting everyone together,” she said.

Jason W. Brooks can be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as those meet our  Civility Guidelines.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.