Meagan Powell likes to run and she

likes to be part of a team.

“I’ve kind of been playing soccer my

whole life,” she said told the Pilot. “I like the competitive and

team aspect and I like to run.”

Powell, who graduated from Whitefish

High School in 2009, is the daughter of Susan and Chester Powell.

She grew up on the soccer fields with her mom as her coach in the

earlier years. During high school, she helped lead Whitefish to

three consecutive divisional championships and the team was state

runners-up in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Playing college soccer has been a

dream.

Powell recently completed two years at

Northern Idaho College as a forward on the team. Next year she’s

transferring to Westminster College in Salt Lake City to continue

her career.

“I’m not always going to have the

opportunity to play soccer,” she said. “I’m excited that I get

to.”

Her run at Northern Idaho was a good

one. She scored one goal each of her two seasons. She started every

game for the Cardinals and was the team captain. The team went

10-4-3 last season and was one win short of the national

tournament.

“It’s been an exciting year,” Powell

said.

In the classroom, Powell has excelled

as well. She was named the Female Academic Athlete of the Year.

Powell held a 3.86 GPA and made the

dean’s list each of her semesters at the school. She is also a

member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for

two-year colleges.

“It feels really good. I didn’t even

know I was eligible,” she said of the award. “It’s nice to have my

hard work pay off.”

Powell graduated from NIC with an

associate’s degree and plans to study English literature at

Westminster.

Powell has another experience to add to

college resume. She laughs when asked about being listed on NIC’s

softball team. But she did spend a short time on the team as a base

runner.

“I was simply told to run,” she said.

“My roommates suckered me into that one.”