Days after her final high school class and just ahead of graduation day in May, Severna Park three-sport star Ryn Feemster was asked to look back on her first day of soccer practice entering her senior year in August.
“Its seems such a long time ago,” she said. “It was definitely one of those things where it was my final year and I felt I had nothing to lose, so I’m going to go all out.”
Indeed, Feemster went all out.
Playing center back in soccer, she anchored a defense that posted 14 shutouts and allowed only three goals as Severna Park went 17-0 and won the Class 3A state title. Playing guard and forward in basketball, she averaged 14.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.1 steals in leading the Falcons (22-3) to the state quarterfinals. And as a defender in lacrosse, she played a pivotal role in the Falcons’ 19-1 season that produced a second straight state crown.
A captain on all three teams, Feemster earned plenty of individual honors throughout her exceptional senior year, capped by being chosen as The Baltimore Sun’s 2023-24 high school girls Athlete of the Year.
“I still can’t really wrap my mind around this award,” Feemster said. “I think it kind of sums up all my effort and how much time I put into each sport. So it’s really a testament that the work I put in really did pay off and it’s really incredible.”
Graduating with a weighted 4.3 GPA, Feemster is set to play lacrosse at Virginia Commonwealth University and study biomedical engineering. In addition to excelling in the classroom and sports, Feemster was a member of several school clubs, including the athletic leadership council.
First tossing a ball around when she was 2 years old, Feemster said she always finds the most joy while playing sports. It’s her staple and has helped give her life structure.
Representing Severna Park athletics in her senior year, she was named Capital Gazette’s Anne Arundel Player of the Year in soccer and basketball; a Baltimore Sun All-Metro first-team selection in both sports; and a first-team selection on Capital Gazette’s All-County lacrosse team.
A fluid athlete with great game sense, instincts and competitiveness, Feemster most impressed her Severna Park coaches — soccer’s Rick Stimpson, basketball’s Kris Dean and lacrosse’s Annie Houghton — with her drive at every practice and game.
“When I think about the year she just had, the crazy thing is she didn’t have a day off from the start of soccer to the end of lacrosse,” Dean said. “Soccer overlapped [into the start of basketball season] and then basketball overlapped, so it was remarkable. The hard work and dedication you need to play at that level for as long as she played is incredible. Taking care of her body, assuring she was the best she could be for her teammates is really what she cared about. That just makes her so special.”
Feemster gave herself and Severna Park athletics so much to look back on during her senior year.
For the soccer team, it was finally getting over the hump to win a state title, with the Falcons playing an exceptional championship game to earn a 2-0 win against Mt. Hebron. In basketball, there was her late-game heroics in a 20-point performance that led the Falcons to an epic 59-54 triple-overtime win over county rival South River for the region championship. And then came another state crown for the lacrosse team, the program’s state-record 16th overall.
Feemster is grateful to all her coaches who encouraged her to play all three sports, which has become rare in high school athletics. She’s equally grateful to her teammates for their daily push to help her become the best athlete and person she can be.
Feemster set a positive tone with natural leadership skills that focused on being kind and approachable to all teammates and understanding that mistakes will be made and that it’s important to move past them quickly.
“Her work ethic was a great benchmark for the players around her,” Stimpson said.
Playing alongside Feemster in all three sports, sophomore Maria Bragg learned both on and off the field from her senior captain.
“I just think Ryn is the ultimate teammate, leader and friend,” she said. “If you ask anybody who knows her, she’s just a great person. Not only is she an insane athlete, but she is so selfless and constantly looking to uplift those around her. Being around her so much has really shown me someone I want to be like.”
For Feemster, waking up on May 22 — her storied high school athletic career in the books the night before with the last of her state title wins — had a satisfying but strange feel.
“It was definitely different, a little bittersweet, but mostly it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, gosh, what am I going to do with myself?'” she said. “So it’s nice, but it’s also, ‘I just want to play more sports!’ And then I think about soccer and basketball and I just want to play those sports again. So maybe play club at VCU?”
