2025 NewsTribune Female Athlete of the Year: Henry-Senachwine’s Kaitlyn Anderson

As a grade school physical education teacher, long-time Henry-Senachwine softball coach Lori Stenstrom can often pick out which students are destined to be standout athletes.

She knew back in kindergarten she had a future star in Kaitlyn Anderson.

“You have those kids who come through, like Kaitlyn, who you can pick out and go, ‘They’re going to be athletic,’ ” Stenstrom said. “You can watch just the way they play in P.E. that they have that competitiveness from Day 1. They want to win.”

Stenstrom was right about Anderson.

Anderson went from a kindergartener with potential to one of the most accomplished athletes in Henry-Senachwine history.

She was a four-year varsity player in volleyball, basketball and softball, and she earned many individual accolades and led the Mallards to unprecedented success.

Anderson capped her prep career with a historic senior season.

She was named NewsTribune All-Area First Team and All-Tri-County Conference First Team in all three sports and earned all-state honors in volleyball and softball.

Anderson helped lead the Henry volleyball team to a school-record 30 wins, the TCC Tournament title for the first time since 1988, its first regional title since 2011 and the Mallards’ first sectional final appearance since 1978.

She helped the basketball team nearly double its win total from eight to 15.

Anderson finished her career by playing a key role in the softball team setting a record for wins (25) and winning the first sectional championship in program history.

For all she accomplished this season, Anderson is the 2025 NewsTribune Female Athlete of the Year.

“I think her accomplishments on the court, in the field and in the classroom speak volumes about her talent, her work ethic and her character,” Self said. “Whether she’s leading her team to a win, encouraging her teammates or representing our school in the community, she’s just an all-around great person. She brings heart. She just has that drive to want to do the best at everything she does.

“She’s left a legacy that will hopefully inspire athletes here for years to come. There’s never been an athlete come through our walls that had the talent and the overall humility and leadership that she had in my 25 years.

“Across the board, in every sport, she was just amazing for us.”

Anderson said she felt pressure to step up in volleyball with the Mallards returning a strong group of players from a team that won 22 matches in 2023.

“There were not a lot of expectations or pressure from other people, but more for myself because I knew I needed to step up as a senior on the team,” Anderson said. “With such a talented group, I knew I needed to be a good influence.”

Anderson delivered as she ranked top 10 in the area in kills (2.7 per set), blocks (0.6) and digs (3.8), but also brought intangibles.

“I’ve been in a lot of different positions,” Anderson said. “I actually started as a setter my freshman year, then Coach Self made me a middle hitter, and my junior year she decided I needed to play my own back row, so I’ve kind of been through it all and had an understanding of everybody’s position. That made it easy for me to know what everybody needed and what kind of leadership they needed, because I could relate.

“My biggest thing for volleyball was taking a leadership role, because it’s very mental when you’re in a good run or you fall off a little bit.”

In basketball, the Mallards had a new coach in Clinton Schlosser, who looked to Anderson to help change the direction of the program.

“We hadn’t really had a lot of structure in the program before,” Anderson said. “[Schlosser] told me at the beginning of the season that he needed some senior leadership to change the culture of the program, and I feel like we did a good job of that.”

Anderson helped the Mallards win the Earlville Christmas Tournament and earn a victory over Seneca. She led the area in rebounding at 10.3 per game and was second in scoring at 14.3 points per game while eclipsing 1,000 career points.

“She’s a natural-born leader, and that helps with getting her teammates better,” Schlosser said. “On top of that, she’s a super hard worker.

“My first year coaching at Henry, I’m glad I had a senior like her to echo culture change. It really does help that she is the leader she is to change the program around.”

Anderson put an exclamation point on her time at Henry in the spring with another big season both at and behind the plate.

She hit .402 and ranked top 10 in the area in home runs (9), doubles (9) and RBIs (26), while also scoring 22 runs. Anderson also called the pitches for 2025 NewsTribune Softball Player of the Year Lauren Harbison.

“Every season was probably my favorite for each sport, which is great,” Anderson said. “Ending your high school career on a high note for each sport is something that I’m super thankful for, and that’s due to my teammates and coaches.”

Anderson, who will continue her volleyball and softball careers at IVCC, hopes she’s left an impact that will help Henry continue to succeed in the future.

“I’d much rather be remembered for my character than my skills,” Anderson said. “It’s great to hit home runs and to win games and things like that, but I really would rather leave an impact on the people here, the underclassmen. I’ve been on teams that it’s hard to play on because of the relationships and not being close, and I know that’s not fun. Being a Henry alum now, I want to see Henry succeed in all of their programs.

“Leaving a good impact of what a team should be, what a leader should look like, that’s what I want to have. When I come back, I want to still be friends with the girls on my team. I don’t really want to be remembered for the skill stuff, but more the character and friendships and things like that.”