Leaving it all behind

Graduating YC golfer Ali Schmunk prepares for Hawaii.

For the past 4 years, Yuma Catholic multi-sports student athlete Ali Schmunk has excelled in the classroom and in athletics.

In volleyball, she has established herself as one of the Shamrocks captains and proved herself to be a force to be reckoned with as the team's star setter and outside hitter.

Along with previously graduated teammate Jordan Grasis, Schmunk was even more dominant in the sport of golf; one of the few girls competing in AIA's Division 3 and rated as one of the top student athlete golfers in the state of Arizona.

Already earning a full-ride women's golf scholarship to the University of Hawaii, Schmunk was looking forward to capping her YC career out on the links with an individual state title.

Unfortunately, by Mid-March the Coronavirus Pandemic put that important goal to an end.

A couple of weeks after the shut-down, her devastation turned into resolve.

"Hearing the news was very, I'm not going to lie, pretty devastating and I had my moment where I was just like 'Oh, you got to be kidding me. Like, why is this happening?' But, at the end of the day, you've got to take the good with the bad and you have to move on because it's one of the things you can't control."

Schmunk's answer was beginning preparations to become a Lady Warrior golfer.

She hit the weight room, made daily trips to the golf course, worked tirelessly on drills, worked on playing 36 holes, and mastered her online courses to finish out her education at YC.

Taking her situation in stride, Schmunk credits her chief sources of support being from God, her dad, her swing coach, and her former Rocks teammate Grasis; who she credits as a huge help in the current transition:

"That was the best advice she could give me was 'talk to your teachers. Stay connected with your coach. You know, it's OK not to be OK. It's OK to struggle as a freshman. It's a whole different transition.' So, she's been awesome to have as a role model, especially throughout high school too. I've always looked up to her, kind of like my older sister too. Just beig in high school an us being the ohnly two girls in Division 3, for the most part and granted in our section. So, her and I have been really close and she's given me great advice and helped me out for what to expect next year."