Sunday, Jun. 07, 2009

Xylina McDaniel, Midlands female athlete of the year

Spring Valley High freshman quickly Xylina McDaniel made a name for herself. Now the name comes with a title: The State’s Midlands female athlete of the year.

Zylina arrived at Spring Valley with a renowned surname, courtesy of her father, A.C. Flora High alum and former NBA player Xavier McDaniel.

It was the name that first drew crowds to her basketball games — the 14-year-old was one of three freshmen to earn a starting spot on the Vikings’ varsity team. Fans continued to follow the team as Xylina overcame a late-season knee injury to help power the Vikings to the Class 4A title, averaging 13.3 pints and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Her athletic success continued in the spring, when, Xylina won the state championship in the shot put, throwing a personal-best 41 feet, 10½ inches.

It was only her fourth attempt at the event, and with her gold-medal heave, she established herself as an athlete who was ready to rise and fall on her own merit.

“I feel like now they’re coming to see Xylina play, not to see X-Man,” she said of her father, who played 12 NBA seasons with five teams. “It feels good, because I showed people that I can play because of me, not just because of my Dad.”

Her competitiveness and tenacious disposition are traits she shares with her father, but, according to her coaches, her success is based primarily on her willingness to work and be coached.

“She’s always been very coachable, and she has been a pleasure to coach,” Spring Valley basketball coach Anne Long said.

“She was probably a little hesitant at first, coming into a new program. Later on in the season, she started to come into her own.”

Long said the 6-foot-1 forward became a consistently powerful presence in the paint as she combined her instincts with positioning and timimg to become “one of the best rebounders” she has coached. Long also was impressed with Xylina’s resillience in dealing with a knee injury at the end of the regular season.

“She rehabbed consistently, and she got back out there for us,” Long said. “She wasn’t really 100 percent in the playoffs, but she gave it all she had.”

Three weeks after wrapping up basketball season, Xylina joined the track team hoping to become a sprinter. With track season winding down, coach Shauna Bell planned to use the remaining meets to figure out Xylina’s niche in preparation for next season.

“In her first meet, she ran the 100. For her size, she carried it well, but you just don’t see that many 6-foot-1 sprinters,” Bell said. “I told her she needed to go throw, and she did it. She didn’t like it, didn’t want to have anything to do with it, but she did it.”

Xylina learned to throw the discus and shot in two days of practice, and she did fairly well at the Vikings’ final regular-season meet.

“Once I realized that I could be good at it, after the Ridge View meet, I liked it. I picked it up pretty fast,” she said.

In her next attempt, at the Region 4-4A meet, Xylina threw 34 feet, 9½ inches and placed third. Nine days later, she had improved by nearly 4 feet and won the 4A qualifier.

“I still honestly don’t think that she has down perfect technique,” Bell said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing what she can do when she does.”

Long is similarly eager to see how Xylina will develop.

“She has a chance to do something big. The only thing to stop her would be herself.” Long said.

Xylina sees all sorts of possibilities for the remainder of her high school years.

For one thing, there is the defense of the basketball title and working toward building the dynasty many fans believe is forthcoming.

“I’m feeling confident, but also I’m feeling that we have to work harder than what we did last year,” she said. “People want to get us down and beat us so that we don’t do what we did last year.”

And Xylina thinks she might try her hand at volleyball in the fall.

“I don’t know about all sports, but I think I can also be good at that,” she said.

And why wouldn’t she, when her name quickly is becoming synonymous with success.

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Watch video from Spring Valley's girls basketball championship

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