Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – A big part of being successful in athletics is playing to your strengths.

Coaches build game plans around the strengths of their teams and smart players know how to utilize their best attributes to maximize their success.

During her high school athletic career Lila Krall has learned how to make the most of her own strengths.

When it came time to make a decision on her path after high school Krall looked at her strengths and came up with a plan.

Krall, who is a member of both the volleyball and soccer teams at West Branch as part of a busy extracurricular schedule, plans to major in architecture at Iowa State University following graduation.

“I’m really artistic and creative and I’m also really good at math so I figured that I wanted to find something that goes with both of those,” Krall said. “That’s architecture and I think it’s also really interesting.”

Identifying potential personal strengths was easy for the multi-talented Krall.

A 3.98 student with just one B in her high school career Krall stands out among the West Branch student body for all the right reasons.

“Lila is really a tremendous person,” West Branch activities director Jake Stenberg said. “She treats everyone with respect, is extremely coachable, and is one of the best teammates we have at West Branch. Lila does all the little things right and is going to have success in anything she does in life.”

A senior middle hitter Krall is enjoying being part of a big season for the West Branch volleyball team.

The Bears are off to a 15-7 start and are ranked No. 13 in Class 2A.

“I like being part of this team and playing a sport that I’ve been playing forever,” Kral said. “It’s really fun.”

Krall has posted five kills, a dig and a block while playing nine sets across five matches this season.

Those stats don’t tell the story of what Krall has meant to first-year West Branch coach Trystin Shawver.

“Your attitude and your effort is so much more important than leading the team in kills,” Shawver said. “If you can do both great, but that’s very rare. Lila is someone who is going to be smiling. If you go up and tell you her that you are having a rough day she is going to find a way to make it better for you and a teammate like that is what you are going to remember. She is a very selfless player, she wants what is best for the team and she has a great energy and that is helpful on any team.”

A skill set that expands well past athletics has made Krall one of the busiest students at West Branch.

Playing volleyball is just the beginning of the activity list for the always-active Krall.

She plays the saxophone in the jazz band, is a member of the National Honor Society, FFA president and plays soccer in the spring.

Oh, and Krall is also the marching band drum major this fall.

“Being at small school like West Branch you know everybody and I always feel a part of something,” Krall said. “I’m a part of a lot of things outside of sport and it’s great to be able to be a part of so many things. Everyone is really supportive of me doing all these activities. That’s something I don’t think you get at other places.”

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