2023 Northwest Herald Female Athlete of the Year: Huntley’s Ally Panzloff

Huntley’s Ally Panzloff didn’t have a chance to compete in track and field as a freshman because of the pandemic.

The next year as a sophomore, conflicting schedules – with fall sports pushed to the spring – put her focus on her first love, volleyball.

Panzloff had the chance to jump back into track and field as a junior and showed serious potential. She stuck with it in her final year and helped the Red Raiders make history.

Panzloff was one of three individuals on the team to win a state title, leading Huntley to the first state championship in McHenry County for girls track. Panzloff’s individual championship came in the discus, where she launched a winning throw of 48.73 meters, the fourth-longest throw in state meet history, and career-best effort by 15 feet.

Panzloff’s tremendous accomplishment in track and field was only one part of her highly successful career at Huntley. She earned Northwest Herald All-Area first-team honors for volleyball in the fall, leading a dynamic Raiders offense with 228 kills, 55 aces, 40 blocks and 183 digs.

Her big season helped Huntley to an area-best 32-7 record, as the Raiders became the first team in Fox Valley Conference history to finish 18-0 without dropping a set.

For her accomplishments, Panzloff was named the 2023 Northwest Herald Female Athlete of the Year, as selected by the sports staff.

For the honor, Dr. Steven Rochell will donate $2,500 to Huntley in Panzloff’s name through the Rochell Foundation. Rochell has made that donation for the Female and Male Athletes of the Year in every year since 1993.

Panzloff finished ahead of Crystal Lake Central’s Katie Hamill, the Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year and an All-Area first-team member in tennis. Huntley’s Alex Johnson, the co-Northwest Herald Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, was third.

Panzloff will play volleyball at NCAA Division I Brown University next year. She talked to sports writer Alex Kantecki about her favorite high school memories, the thrill of winning a state title, her most prized possession and more.

What are you most proud about from senior year?

Panzloff: I was proud of my individual title for discus because I feel like I started really late and had to put in a lot of work to catch up with my peers. Other than that, I’m really proud of the culture we helped cultivate in volleyball. Me and the other captains have been together for so long, and I feel really good leaving that program because I know we did a good job being leaders, all of us together. And I’m proud of the personal growth that represented for me.

What did it mean to win a state title in discus?

Panzloff: I had a great coach, and I feel like doing multiple sports kind of gives me an advantage. I went in the summer a couple of times with coach [Zack] Borring and [sophomore] Sienna Robertson, and I feel like that gave me a bit of an edge. We got some new equipment, so we were able to work inside. I’m really lucky with the people I’m surrounded with. They were super helpful.

What is your favorite memory in volleyball?

Panzloff: I would probably say our last game of the season at [Crystal Lake] South and winning in two sets. That was just such an amazing feeling knowing we had been so consistent all season and were able to hold onto the perfect season. ... That was something we had done the whole season. It wasn’t like one lucky win. It was like a consistent good effort.

If you could spend a day with anyone from history, who would it be?

Panzloff: I’d spend a day with Steve Harvey. I’d want him to put me on Family Feud. I think my family could win.

What is your most prized possession?

Panzloff: I have a necklace that I wear all the time. It’s a St. Christopher pendant, and my mom bought it for me on a vacation. She had a similar one in high school, so it always reminds me of her.

What is your favorite TV show or movie?

Panzloff: My favorite movie is “The Martian.” I love that movie. I think I’ve seen it like 10 times.

Which player on your team made you laugh the most?

Panzloff: Ciera Fletcher from volleyball. She’s hilarious. When I would play and she would be on the bench, just the way she cheered I can never be down because she’d always make me laugh. I’d try and be stoic and locked in and I would just hear her say something, and I would immediately break down.

Which player on your team inspires you?

Panzloff: Avary DeBlieck. I do club volleyball with her and she’s recovering from a really bad knee injury. Just seeing the attitude she approaches it with and how positive she remains, it’s definitely been a hard year for her, but she’s such a positive person and she focused on everyone else. That’s really inspiring.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Panzloff: Somewhere warmer. I don’t want to say Florida. Maybe one of the Carolinas.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

Panzloff: I’m a really superstitious person, in and out of sports. I always drink the same energy drink, use the same hair ties, same songs before my games and a million other things before I play. And I have a lucky shirt I wear for big tests.

What actress would play you in a movie about your life?

Panzloff: If it’s just based off appearance, my mom told me I look like Julia Stiles. I don’t see it, but that’s what she says. I hope it’s true because I think she’s pretty.

Who is your hero?

Panzloff: My parents [TJ and Jen]. It’s kind of corny, but those are the two people I look up to the most. I feel like they both have taught me so many valuable things, and I think about them with pretty much everything that I do. I think they’re great people to look up to, and I’m really blessed to have them.

What will you remember most about your time at Huntley?

Panzloff: Just how proud I felt to be a part of a school with such strong athletics. I think it’s something you can take for granted because I was really lucky to be a part of not one but two great programs. Huntley has so many strong sports teams. To be able to wear Huntley sweatshirts and say that I was able to be a part of that team that did that thing feels good.

What are you most looking forward to about Brown?

Panzloff: Just being a part of a new area and a new culture, wearing a color that isn’t red for the first time ever. And just meeting all new people, new teammates. My teammate Maggie [Duyos] and I always joke. She’s been my setter since I was 14, and I’m going to have to hit off a new setter. It’s going to feel so different and weird being without her, same with Avary [DeBlieck]. I’ve always played with Avary.