University of Minnesota Athletics
Leaving Her Mark; senior Megan Higginbotham
4/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
From the moment Megan Higginbotham stepped on campus, it was apparent she was going to make an impact on the Golden Gopher softball program. A naturally gifted and supremely talented athlete, Higginbotham stormed onto the college softball scene to lead the Gophers in nearly every offensive statistical category on her way to earning first-team All-Region accolades as a freshman.
She has not skipped a beat ever since.
Higginbotham will finish her career as one of the best players to ever put on a Minnesota uniform, leaving her mark on a number of the school’s career record charts.
“What’s driven me to have the success that I’ve had is that I’m always striving to become better,” Higginbotham said. “I never want to become complacent and settle for where I’m at.”
The game has always come easy for Higginbotham, who can change the outcome of a game with one swing of the bat with her power, has the speed to create runs on the basepaths, and possesses the ability to make virtually any difficult play in the field seem possible.
“She loves to compete,” Co-Head Coach Julie Standering stated. “Whatever it may be, whether it’s softball or just playing cards, she’s going to find a way to beat you, and she’s talented so she’s pretty tough to beat.”
But for all of her success on the softball field over the last four years, Standering said perhaps Higginbotham’s greatest accomplishment has been the maturation process she has gone through to become the person she is today.
For someone as naturally gifted as Higginbotham, it is common to become defined by athletic success. However, Higginbotham has learned to separate her performance on the field from the person she is off the field.
Standering said in the past when Higginbotham would make a mistake, she would often get frustrated and let it bring her down. The difference now, however, is that she has learned to harness her frustration and use her experience to learn from her mistakes as she constantly strives to become better.
“In the game of softball, there are ups and downs throughout any career,” Standering said, “but through the process Higgi has found out that this game is a lot like how life is going to be. The lessons learned are not only making her a powerful athlete but have helped her develop into a fantastic person.”
While the Gophers maybe have not won as many games as they would have liked over the last four years, Higginbotham does not feel the team’s success can solely be defined by wins and losses. She said the team coming together both on and off the field and constantly working to get better is what she is most proud of.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to fight for something with a group of people,” Higginbotham said. “Having a common goal and really fighting to work for it is something that is very powerful and has brought us together.”
Prior to this season, Higginbotham made a personal sacrifice with the best interests of the team in mind. Unsure of whether her body would be able to handle another season behind the plate, she approached the coaching staff about the possibility of switching positions. With the emergence of sophomore catcher Shannon Stemper and the unselfishness of Colleen Conway to go over to the opposite side of the infield, the move became a no-brainer.
The new look has paid dividends for the Gophers throughout the year and, as the team continues to build confidence and gears up for the home stretch of the season, Higginbotham hopes the end result will be a post-season appearance for the first time in her career.
Whether the team reaches that ultimate goal or not, Higginbotham has learned during her career that the outcome is not nearly as important as the process, and as a result she will continue to take pride in the lessons learned along the way and constantly work to get better.
With her talent and ability on the field, Higginbotham has left her mark on the Minnesota softball program over the last four years, but by utilizing the lessons she has learned off the field, Higginbotham will continue to make an impact wherever the future leads her as well.
story by Tory Kukowski, athletic communications intern
