Central grad Swanson shines on field, preps to fly jets in Air Force

“I’ve done much more here than I ever imagined I could have,” the 2016 Cheyenne Central graduate said.

What Swanson did was become an All-American, three-time all-conference selection, and be named the 2020 Division II player of the year by Inside Lacrosse magazine.

Not bad for someone who thought her lacrosse days were probably behind her when her family moved to Cheyenne from Virginia prior to her junior year of high school.

Wyoming is one of just 16 states that doesn’t sanction the sport. At the time, the Cheyenne Fusion was the only club team in the state.

Swanson channeled her energy into other sports. She helped Central’s tennis team win two team state championships, while she also won a pair of doubles titles. Swanson also was an all-state selection on the basketball court and soccer field as a senior.

As satisfying as those accomplishments were, she longed to be on the lacrosse field.

Swanson played a couple tournaments for the Fusion before catching on with Team 180, which is one of the premier club teams in Colorado. Playing with Team 180 got her in front of college coaches and helped her earn a scholarship to Tampa, which fielded its first lacrosse team in 2014.

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From a lacrosse perspective, Swanson thought of herself as being relatively green compared to many of her Tampa teammates. They had the luxury of full high school seasons in addition to club events. The Spartans also had several upperclassmen. Swanson admits she was a bit intimidated when practice started fall of her freshman year.

“I was just a baby freshman, and kind of had to learn the ropes and find my role in the team,” Swanson said. “I wasn’t necessarily going to be the most flashy player, but I could play my role and contribute. I think I proved myself early on and the girls started to respect me.

“They knew I was a hard worker, that I would grind it out and I could compete at that level.”

Swanson started all 17 games she played in as a freshman, scored 21 goals, assisted on two others and was a second team All-Sunshine State Conference selection.

The midfielder also earned second team all-conference honors as a sophomore, starting seven of 18 games for the Spartans. Swanson tallied 34 goals and eight assists that season.

The honors were nice, but Swanson felt like she hadn’t tapped into her full potential.

“My team and my coaches had started to look at me as a leader and expect a lot out of me, so I knew I had to deliver,” she said. “I knew my junior year had to be the campaign for that.”

Swanson rose to the occasion.

She found the back of the net 46 times, while also assisting on 16 goals. Swanson also won 144 draw controls and picked up 41 ground balls. She led the team in groundballs and was third in goals to help the Spartans reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Swanson helped Tampa earn a measure of respect on the national level just as she had hoped. Along the way, she was named Sunshine State Conference player of the year, and became the first Spartan to earn first team All-American honors.

Swanson had high hopes for her senior campaign. The Spartans had a veteran-laden team returning and were being talked about among the heavyweights in the southern United States.

Her final season sporting Tampa’s red and black uniform couldn’t have started better.

Swanson was on pace for a career year, scoring 22 goals in her first seven games and helping the Spartans start the year 6-1. They climbed to No. 9 in the national rankings. The only blemish on their record was to No. 5-ranked Lindenwood.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic brought the season to an abrupt conclusion.

“It was devastating because we played our last game without knowing it was our last game,” Swanson said. “Everyone always says – and it’s kind of a cliché – to play every game like it’s your last. That was true for us.”

The Spartans crushed 16th-ranked Limestone 16-5 on March 11. The NBA suspended its season after Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus that night.

Sensing it was only a matter of time before all sports were put on hold, Tampa coach Kelly Gallagher made it a point to recognize her team’s seniors at practice March 12.

“We all just burst out crying on the field,” Swanson said. “We were all kind of speechless and nobody wanted to leave the field. We got to the locker room, and nobody wanted to leave the locker room.

“It was so hard to accept because everything got stripped from us almost overnight.”

The Sunshine State Conference canceled the remainder of its spring seasons March 13.

The NCAA eventually voted to extend an extra season of eligibility to all spring sports athletes who had their seasons end prematurely. Swanson briefly considered returning to Tampa for a fifth season, but that would interfere with her postgraduate plans.

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Swanson was much more than an athlete at Tampa.

She was active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes from the time she arrived on campus. She volunteered in a number of capacities at her church, and eventually became FCA president.

Swanson’s father, Brad, is a pilot in the Air Force, and both flying and military service have fascinated Swanson for as long as she can remember. She attended summer seminars at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the academy was her top college choice coming out of high school.

Swanson spent her freshman year in Tampa finding her footing as a student-athlete. She learned to juggle the demands of her class load and her sport.

Confident she had a handle on the demands college presented, Swanson joined the school’s Air Force ROTC program during her sophomore year. She eventually worked her way up to wing commander where she oversaw more than 200 students. That same year, Swanson dove head first into learning how to fly and earned her pilot’s license.

Swanson regularly flies with Brad after he was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Her flying will soon be more than recreational.

Swanson will be commissioned into the Air Force as an officer May 10. COVID-19 has forced that ceremony to be conducted via videoconference. She is hopeful it won’t delay her arrival at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, next February.

“I always knew in the back of my mind that I was going to join the Air Force and be a pilot,” Swanson said. “I have always wanted to be able to fly fighter jets, and now I’m going to get the opportunity to do it.”

Swanson’s involvement across Tampa’s campus earned her the athletics department’s Freddie Solomon Community Service Award and the Melissa Vanderhall Spartan Cape Award. Having a complete college experience made it easy for Swanson to forgo the extra season of eligibility the NCAA offered her.

“To me, going to college was bigger than being an athlete,” she said. “I was lucky to play a sport in college, but I wanted to be really well-rounded. I’ve accomplished the things I wanted to, and I’ve left my mark on Tampa.

“I’m ready for the next chapter in my life.”