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2026 NewsTribune Female Athlete of the Year: St. Bede’s Lily Bosnich · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Twenty twenty six News Tribune Female Athlete of the Year,
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  Speaker 1: Saint Bede's Lily Bosnich, Written by Kevin Hieronymus. This article
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  Speaker 1: is being read by an automated voice brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by Everlett. Lily Bosnich never thought it was going to
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  Speaker 1: be such a big deal. She was just doing the
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  Speaker 1: two things she loves the most. The Saint Bede Academy
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  Speaker 1: senior ran from a home softball rivalry game with Marquette
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  Speaker 1: to the senior night track meet. With no time to
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  Speaker 1: change into her track uniform. Bosnik stretched ran the hurdles
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  Speaker 1: in her softball uniform and became an Internet sensation. I
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  Speaker 1: knew it was senior night for track, but I wasn't
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  Speaker 1: going to miss Marquette. How could I miss a rivalry game.
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  Speaker 1: I was potentially willing to miss my senior night for it,
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  Speaker 1: but we ended up winning early. We got a run
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  Speaker 1: rule on them, and I ran over here, bos said.
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  Speaker 1: Bosnik said, they announced me right away, and I just
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  Speaker 1: kind of figured that was it. I said, now, what,
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  Speaker 1: the hurdles are coming up pretty quick. I haven't stretched,
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  Speaker 1: I don't really have anything to change into. My coach said, well,
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  Speaker 1: you can run in that I said, oh okay. It
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  Speaker 1: was either to be able to stretch and actually warm
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  Speaker 1: up and then run or go and change. I chose
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  Speaker 1: to kind of go with it and it worked and
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  Speaker 1: from there the story went viral, first appearing in the
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  Speaker 1: BCR News Tribune, to being picked up Dan Pearson's FCA
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  Speaker 1: Story of the Week on WKD to going national by
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  Speaker 1: USA Today. It doesn't stop. This story just keeps going
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  Speaker 1: and going, Bosnik said, with a laugh. It's so crazy
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  Speaker 1: to me because I was just having fun. This is
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  Speaker 1: just another day. I was so grateful to end my
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  Speaker 1: career on the same track that I started in grade school.
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  Speaker 1: While I was running, I was like, Wow, I hope
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  Speaker 1: I remember this for life, and now I definitely will.
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  Speaker 1: It's everywhere. It was just one of the many shining
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  Speaker 1: moments Bosnik had during her senior year. She claimed her
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  Speaker 1: eighth and ninth career state track medals with a second
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  Speaker 1: place finish in the world one hundred meter hurdles and
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  Speaker 1: third in the three hundred hurdles, graduating at Saint Bede's
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  Speaker 1: most decorated track athlete. With those nine state medals, Bosnick
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  Speaker 1: also was a star for the Bruins softball team. Batting
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  Speaker 1: point four to five nine with ten homers, thirty one RBIs,
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  Speaker 1: thirty nine run scored, and fifteen stolen bases. She was
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  Speaker 1: named first team ALLBCR and Tri County All Conference, and
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  Speaker 1: second team Class to A All State. She also was
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  Speaker 1: a defensive Specialist for the volleyball team. For all of
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  Speaker 1: her accomplishments, Bosnik is the twenty twenty five to twenty
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  Speaker 1: six News Tribune Female Athlete of the Year. She is
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  Speaker 1: the first Saint Bede athlete to win the honor since
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  Speaker 1: it started in nineteen ninety six to ninety seven. Bosnick
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  Speaker 1: said the key to her juggling act is organization. You
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  Speaker 1: have to be very organized and talk to your teachers
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  Speaker 1: and coaches. She said, if you're having a rough day,
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  Speaker 1: you have to communicate that because it's just going to
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  Speaker 1: carry on and you're gonna make worse habits for yourself.
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  Speaker 1: Were very flexible with me. Anybody can read me like
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  Speaker 1: a book. I show my emotions very clearly. I barely
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  Speaker 1: need to say anything, and they just knew. Some days
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  Speaker 1: for track it would be take the day and just stretch. Softball.
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  Speaker 1: Same thing my coach would say, if you ever need
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  Speaker 1: a day off, just sit down and watch they were
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  Speaker 1: flexible and communicating is the key Bosnick has found just
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  Speaker 1: how big she has become in the awestruck eyes of
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  Speaker 1: the little girls while working fielding and speed and agility
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  Speaker 1: camps this summer for the Mound Training Facility in Oglesby,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of them are like, wait, you're the girl
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  Speaker 1: who ran in her so softball uniformorm Bosnick said with
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  Speaker 1: a laugh. One little girl has a picture of me
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  Speaker 1: from the newspaper in her bedroom. It's so heartwarming. It
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  Speaker 1: makes me so happy to know I'm making an impact
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  Speaker 1: on kids' lives. I'm just doing what I love. I
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  Speaker 1: never thought i'd turn into this. It's just fun to
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  Speaker 1: see these little girls who recognize me and get to
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  Speaker 1: know them and help them become better athletes. My coaches
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  Speaker 1: have always told me, no matter what sport, everybody's watching.
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  Speaker 1: You just know the little girls are watching you. And
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  Speaker 1: now it's like, wow, they really are. I hope all
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  Speaker 1: high school players know that all grade schoolers are watching.
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  Speaker 1: Last fall, Bosnik found herself out of her comfort zone
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  Speaker 1: when New Saint Bede volleyball coach Nicole Treenka asked her
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  Speaker 1: to move from hit her to liburo A position she
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  Speaker 1: had never played before or thought I'd played before. When
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  Speaker 1: the coach told me, I was a little confused at first.
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  Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I'm open to anything. I'll try
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  Speaker 1: new things. She said. It was very different. It was
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  Speaker 1: a lot getting used to, which is good. Allowed me
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  Speaker 1: to stay open to new things and helped me not
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  Speaker 1: get frustrated with myself because if I made a mistake,
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, now I know I can now fix
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  Speaker 1: it because I've never been here before. I think that
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  Speaker 1: carried into these two season softball and track because my
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  Speaker 1: mentality this year has been better than it ever has been.
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  Speaker 1: Looking back over her shoulder at the school from the
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  Speaker 1: Saint Bede track brings back a flash of memories and
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  Speaker 1: emotion for the new Academy graduate, Looking at it again
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  Speaker 1: makes me want to tear up, she said. This place
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  Speaker 1: has so many memories and so many good times, good
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  Speaker 1: and bad times. Honestly, this was my home for the
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  Speaker 1: last four years. She said. Her favorite memory this year
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  Speaker 1: was when her two sports worlds collided when she was
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  Speaker 1: warming up for the state track meet in Charleston while
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  Speaker 1: watching the softball team in the regional final and game changer.
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  Speaker 1: It was such a suspenseful moment and one I'll never forget,
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  Speaker 1: and I was so happy for my team, Bosnick said.
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  Speaker 1: Bosnik will continue to compete in track at the Division
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  Speaker 1: I level for the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She said
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  Speaker 1: she's found what kind of softball player she was and
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  Speaker 1: now wants to see how far track will take her.
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  Speaker 1: She plans to study medical stenography to become an ultrasound tech.
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  Speaker 1: UWM professors shouldn't be surprised if she attends class in
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  Speaker 1: her track uniform one day, finding herself coming and going
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  Speaker 1: like she did at Saint Bede m