To understand Katy Adler’s love of all things Mead athletics, one need not look much farther than her specs on the soccer field.

Over her past three seasons as a varsity starter, the senior forward/midfielder accrued 58 goals and 21 assists, and she was pivotal to this year’s run to the Class 4A state quarterfinals, where the sixth-seeded Mavericks eventually lost 3-1 to No. 3 Windsor.

As a sophomore, she helped lead the team to its first-ever state semifinals appearance. The three-time Times-Call player of the year let that love for the burnt orange bleed over into every aspect of athletic life on campus, whether she was on the pitch or just a fan in the stands.

Toward the end of the girls basketball season earlier this year, she cheered on Darby Haley as she crossed the 1,000-point mark, holding up a sign in the stands to laud her friend for the accomplishment.

That was just classic Katy.

“It’s just the environment,” she said. “You kind of have to hop in and create something that’s just more than just the school. Sports have definitely played a part in that. I played volleyball and basketball — played volleyball early, my freshman and sophomore year. “And then basketball, I played all middle school. Watching those sports and watching my teammates be in those sports, I want to be there, want to show up for them, because we’re in it together.”

From the time that Katy was 4 years old, her love of soccer was more than evident. Her mother, Rebecca, remembers it vividly.

“She just liked to run everywhere. You put a ball in front of her and it was natural for her, and then we just played club,” Rebecca said. “Her face just lit up every time she was on the soccer field as it does today. It still does every time.”

The mark she left in her three varsity seasons with the Mavericks could hardly be matched. Just this season, Katy accounted for 22 goals — the fifth-most in all of 4A — then chipped in seven assists for good measure.

Her high school career was defined by an innate desire to always show up and work hard, and her ability to push everyone around her to strive to be better. She did it all with a big heart.

“She’s such a sweet, loving person,” Rebecca said. “She wants to see herself succeed, but she also wants to see everybody else succeed too. Those moments that she celebrates when she gets an assist or when another teammate scores a goal and her excitement — where she jumps up. She’ll jump up and down. She’ll go running after them.

“I think the impact she had on this program will always always be remembered. I think her impact is knowing that that standard is set higher. … Knowing that her name is in the record books, in a way, here tied with the most goals in the three years that she’s played forward.”

Now that Katy’s time at Mead has come to an end, she’s setting her sights on higher goals in her next act. Her current and future teammate, Lexi Van Dyke, put in a good word for her at Division III Illinois College, where they’ll both be heading next year.

She’s excited to see where that journey will take her.

“That coach reached out to me, and it just felt like an instant click,” Katy said. “He was just very welcoming, always checking up on me, always wanting everything else. He invited me out on a visit out there, and then I saw the school. It just felt like home. There was a welcome sign with my name. Everyone was very welcoming, the campus was beautiful.”