Year-round player earns top CCHS award

In every season on the sports calendar, Morgan Driskell is there in a key role for the Panthers.

While the Creston senior stands out most in softball as a solid right fielder and power hitter — already with a home run during Tuesday’s doubleheader against Harlan — she was also a varsity contributor in volleyball, basketball and tennis. The daughter of Scott and Melissa Driskell was the school’s only female 4x4 Award winner as a four-sport athlete throughout her career.

Her dedication was rewarded during the May 11 senior awards program when she was announced as Creston’s Outstanding Female Athlete from the class of 2022. She becomes the second member of her family to receive such an honor. Scott Driskell and Dennis Shaw shared the Outstanding Male Athlete award in 1990.

Driskell has received second team all-conference recognition in softball, and honorable mention in basketball. She was also this year’s No. 1 singles player on the tennis team, and one of the top front row hitters in volleyball. Still, she didn’t see herself receiving the outstanding athlete award.

“Definitely shocked,” Driskell said. “I knew there were a lot of good female athletes in my grade, lots of girls who were fully capable of winning the award who have accomplished as much, if not more, than me. I was just going to be happy for whoever won it, because they’ve been my teammates throughout multiple sports.”

And it’s not just athletics that fill the calendar for Creston’s academic salutatorian of 2022. She is also a member of the award-winning Peppers dance team, active in choir and the school’s musical for four years and president of Creston’s FFA chapter this year. She earned her FFA Iowa Degree as a junior, the highest honor in the Iowa FFA system.

“That was another full plate to handle, but it’s something I have a great passion in and something I strive to do in my future,” Driskell explained. She plans on a double major in event management and ag business at Iowa State University.

Volleyball growth

Creston’s varsity coaches saw Driskell mature literally — growing from 5-foot-5 as a freshman to 5-11 as a senior — as well as a leader among teammates. Volleyball coach Teresa Arkfeld saw Driskell embrace her role during the spring before her senior season.

“Morgan’s main goal her senior year was getting the team to be a family again and have fun,” Arkfeld said. “She asked me if she could go visit the incoming freshmen with me. She made sure the rapport of the team was good all season long.”

Driskell became one of the team’s primary middle hitters and was one of the best servers. She ended at 97% efficiency, with 16 aces and only five misses in 167 attempts.

Change of heart

Driskell doesn’t turn 18 until Aug. 16, and her late maturity became a team asset in basketball. She was a wing player and 3-point shooter who was a matchup problem for opponents who also had to account for 6-foot post players Kelsey Fields and Sam Dunphy a year ago, and Bri Fields and Doryn Paup her senior season.

“Morgan came in as a 5-7 freshman who wasn’t really sure if she wanted to play basketball and blossomed into a 6-foot all-conference guard as a senior,” coach Tony Neubauer said.

“I ended up going out and by the end of my freshman year I knew that it would be a sport that I would be involved with all four years,” Driskell said. “I just really enjoyed that year with my teammates and I knew that if I gave it up I wouldn’t have those experiences and those memories.”

While she was a hurdler in middle school track, Driskell gravitated toward tennis in high school, a sport that older brother Jaden had gone to state in doubles with Jacob Cook. As it turned out, Morgan also qualified for state as a junior in doubles with Sam Dunphy. Last spring she was the team’s No. 1 singles player.

“Growing up I went to coach (Kevin) Cooper’s summer tennis camps,” Driskell said. “I knew that track was not my thing and my brother had a good experience in tennis. It’s kind of an individual sport, yet in doubles you’re with a partner so there’s a teamwork part to it. I liked the combination.”

“Her improvement over the years has been amazing,” coach Kevin Cooper said. “She is very athletic and internally competitive, and you can’t teach that. Doing four sports is a family commitment and she always has one of the best cheering sections at our meets.”

No. 1 sport

Driskell’s favorite sport is softball, and she’s motivated to finish her career strong and perhaps contribute to another trip to state. The Panthers went to the state tournament in 2020, but it was an abbreviated single-elimination tournament without teams staying in the Iowa Central Community College dorms as usual, because it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have a good team and softball has been something that me and my dad have shared a passion for over the years,” Driskell said. “He was coaching our softball teams since third grade. I just really like the atmosphere of the softball team and how we become a family in the summer, when we don’t have school and other stuff to balance. I enjoy hitting and playing in the field.”

Last year Driskell hit .372 with three home runs and 30 runs batted in. She was successful in nine of 10 stolen base attempts, and was a steady defensive player in right field with a strong arm. She hit .345 with two homers and 14 RBIs as a sophomore on the state tournament team.

“Morgan has improved for us in the softball program both as a player and as a person,” coach Mike McCabe said. “She has been starting for us since she was a freshman. When Morgan was an underclassman, Sara Keeler took Morgan under her wing and showed her how to work each day. Now we see those same things from Morgan as she relates to our younger players.”

Cooper noted that with the off-season demands of any sport in today’s society, it would be easy for a four-sport athlete to be overwhelmed and “burn out.”

“That didn’t happen to Morgan,” Cooper said. “Her commitment to Creston Community Schools sports and activities was always top tier.”

Driskell said appreciated the full high school experience, despite the hectic schedule. Each year in late November, she’d have to leave basketball practice early sometimes to perform that night in the high school musical.

“I think being in four sports helped me experience all of it,” Driskell said. “People may think it could take away from certain things, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been surrounded by some great players in my four years, and that has helped to shape me into the teammate that I am now.”

Creston High School Outstanding Female Athlete Award winners:

1972-73 — Jan Lesan

1973-74 — Ellen Pendegraft

1974-75 — Carol Reed, Sue Tindle

1975-76 — Roxann Sammons

1976-77 — Rhonda Piel

1977-78 — Dorothy Loos

1978-79 — Carol McFee, Kerri Martin

1979-80 — Debbie Oxenrider

1980-81 — Janelle Johnson, Kelly Reed

1981-82 — Marty Lang

1982-83 — Melanie Blubaugh, Lynn Spurgeon

1983-84 — Lisa Becker, Lori Quam

1984-85 — Donna Dickinson

1985-86 — Tawnya Antisdel

1986-87 — Shannon Freeman

1987-88 — Deanne Eilers

1988-89 — Barb Bradley, Polly Gammell

1989-90 — Janelle Eblen

1990-91 — Kandee Bishop

1991-92 — Tonya Latham

1992-93 — Emily Sevier

1993-94 — Tara Adams, Teri Bunkofske

1994-95 — Summer Hook

1995-96 — Cari Briley, Sarah Vicker

1996-97 — Lindsay Courtney

1997-98 — Casee Piel, Jessica Moeller

1998-99 — Leanne Owens

1999-00 — Emily Bruce, Michelle Clausen

2000-01 — Amanda Parker

2001-02 — Kylee Bradley, Jessica Schierbaum

2002-03 — Stormy Weis

2003-04 — Amy Goldsmith

2004-05 — Jacque Jay

2005-06 — Ashley Hartsook, Brittany Riley

2006-07 — Kari McCann

2007-08 — Meghin Krambeck

2008-09 — Morgan Evans, Nicole Hunter, Aubrey Pendegraft

2009-10 — Jill Johnson, Kierra Smith

2010-11 — Taylor Hance, Carla Smith

2011-12 — Katlin Briley, Madison Frain

2012-13 — Brianna Maitlen

2013-14 — Chelcee Downing

2014-15 — Natalie Mostek

2015-16 — Taylor Briley

2016-17 — Lexie Little, Rachel Shepherd

2017-18 — Cayla Maitlen

2018-19 — Brielle Baker

2019-20 — MaKenna Hudson

2020-21 — Kelsey Fields

2021-22 — Morgan Driskell