Poway grad McKillop a standout on the field, gridiron

As he considered where he wanted to go to college, Donnie McKillop, a 2007 Poway High grad, said he wanted to find a school where he could continue to play baseball and football.

He picked Middlebury College in Vermont, which plays NCAA Division III in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Now, as he prepares for his final year in college, McKillop says he knows he made the right choice by going to the smaller school.

This past year, he earned honors both on the gridiron and on the baseball field.

This past spring, McKillop, a third baseman and outfielder, was named to the All-NESCAC first team, after leading his team in several offensive categories.

In baseball, McKillop — who saw scant playing time with the Poway Titans — had a .423 batting average with the Middlebury Panthers, with 47 hits at 111 at-bats, according to the college.

He also had 11 doubles, two homers and 27 RBIs.

In the fall, McKillop, who played quarterback at Poway High and took the team to the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship his senior year, was named the NESCAC’s Offensive Player of the Year.

This summer, McKillop is back in Poway. The political science major (with a minor in marketing) is interning at a law firm and training for his senior year of football in Vermont.

In addition to working 40-hour weeks, McKillop said he’s starting to train for the football season using a training manual provided by the team.

“There’s a lot of self-accountability with this method,” McKillop said. “We’re expected to come back ready to play. It’s a world-class weight-lifting and conditioning program.”

McKillop said the team won its league championship his freshman year, but came up short in the remaining years.

“We’re a brink team right now,” he said. “But we expect to do well and to execute when it’s crunch time.”

McKillop said he enjoys the mental workout the position of quarterback entails. He said he saw some playing time his freshman year (though he was mostly learning the playbook) and became a starter his sophomore year.

Since then he’s played most games, except for “three plays and two games” he missed his sophomore season with an injury.

The baseball team this season had a lot of younger talent, McKillop said, calling it a “growing year,” though he noted that the team fought hard and was not swept in any of its series.

Whether it’s baseball or football, McKillop said he’s ready.

“I’m going to go in like it’s a whole new year,” he said. “What I’ve done in the past is nice … but I have another year and it may very well be my last.

“I want to take it minute by minute and work hard to get ready,” he added. “I’m, obviously, going to expect success and hope my work pays off.”

McKillop said coaches at the school support his participating in both sports.

“I looked at a ton of schools who looked at me primarily as a football recruit, but it’s been a blessing to be able to do both,” he said.

McKillop said that part of his finding the right fit was that he recognized that he might be shorter than the ideal Division I quarterback and too slow to be a wide receiver.

“I guess I could have gone to a Division I school and tried to walk on to the team,” he said.

He added that he decided that if he went to Middlebury, he would have a chance to try out for a starting position right away.

“Of course, I’ll always be a little bit curious to know if I could have played (in Division I),” McKillop said. “Maybe I’m naive, but I still think I could have.”

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Posted by unestidstwern on Jul 8 2010. Filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry