Family and friends have a strong influence on us as we go through life. For Kylee Ruff, this is no different. She says that her parents have been her biggest positive impact in life because they hold her accountable to achieving her potential, they show her that she’s not defined by any one thing, and let her know that her journey has only just begun. Even in her free time, she likes to run with her family.
Kylee started participating in sports at four years old, beginning with soccer, softball and basketball. In her freshman year, she decided to run track with her friends and in her sophomore year, she even ran cross county with her sister, Kate, who was in her senior year.
Kylee currently participates in Cross Country, Basketball, Track, Softball, STUCO, FCCLA, and the Frontier Inter-Tribal Youth Leadership program. Her favorite subject is Science because she likes doing labs and experimenting with different things.
Kylee’s sister, Morgan, is her biggest role model. She is the person that Kylee looked up to the most because of how good she was in the sports that she participated in. “No matter what, Morgan was a very positive, helping, and caring teammate that made her team better. Someday, I wish to be as good as her, or maybe even better,” Kylee says.
Her favorite sports moments have been when her softball team made it to the Class-B semi-finals, making it to state in her freshman and sophomore years in track, and becoming the State Champ for track in the 400, and State Runner Up in track in the 800. As a freshman, Kylee won the Stillwater Newspress 2023 Girls Track and Field Athlete of the year.
Sports have taught Kylee that you are only as strong as your weakest link. “I use this with myself and work on my weaknesses daily to become the best me I can,” she says. She got her interest in sports through her enjoyment of competition. “The competition always made me wonder; what if? What if I could be the best to ever do it?” Kylee says. While seeing others compete, she couldn’t help but visualize herself competing at the highest level.
Her plans after highschool are undecided, but she does know that though life throws us curveballs, she wants to continue to work on the things that she can control; her mind, body, and spirit.
Kylee says that to be a great athlete, you need to be disciplined, consistent, competitive, and need to peruse realistic goals. Her advice to her fellow athletes would be “always work on yourself to become better. Not just in any sport; but in life. Your health is the most valuable thing that you have and many neglect it until it’s too late.”
