Two-sport star making a splash for Franklin

<p><strong>S</strong>ooner or later, there will come a time when Kabria Chapman has to decide which of her two sports she wants to focus all of her attention on.</p><p>Volleyball or swimming?</p><p>A potential Division I college talent in both, the Franklin sophomore acknowledges that she’ll eventually need to pick one of the other — but she’s in no rush to do so.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>What she is doing quickly is drawing a great deal of attention in each sport. The 6-foot Chapman developed into an all-around force for the Grizzly Cubs on the volleyball court this fall, leading the team in kills, blocks and aces.</p><p>A similar leap forward in the pool this winter could be scary. Chapman made an immediate impact as a freshman, finishing seventh in the state in the 100-yard breaststroke and swimming on Franklin’s state runner-up medley relay team. She already owns the school breaststroke record, having put up a time of 1:03.60 at the sectional meet.</p><p>Franklin swim coach Zach DeWitt wasn’t surprised by anything that Chapman accomplished as a ninth-grader.</p><p>“She can be a national talent. There’s no hesitation in me saying that,” he said. “She’s a wonderful athlete, perhaps one of the more gifted ones we have, and certainly one of the biggest young ladies we have in terms of height. So you put them all together and it’s kind of like a recipe.</p><p>“We just didn’t know how quickly it would all happen, but … we always knew what we were getting, and that was a top-tier talent.”</p><p>Though her breaststroke was the quickest stroke to develop, Chapman appears ready to broaden her horizons during her sophomore season; DeWitt says he’s hoping she can contribute as a sprint freestyler, either as an individual or on relays.</p><p>Those contributions may not be immediate — having spent all of volleyball season out of the water, Chapman usually needs some extra time to get back into peak swimming condition. But by the time it matters, she’ll likely be where she needs to be.</p><p>Chapman does believe that it benefits her to have some time away from the pool after balancing both sports through the summer.</p><p>“During high school volleyball season, I think it’s nice to have that little break, because I come off a winter and a summer of doing both,” she said. “I know that staying in shape in volleyball helps me in swimming.”</p><p>The balancing act won’t last forever. Chapman knows that something will have to give eventually; there’s far too much overlap in volleyball and swimming schedules at the collegiate level to continue doubling up.</p><p>And while her mother, Roxanne, is the volleyball coach at Franklin, Kabria says that her parents will be supportive whichever way she decides to go.</p><p>Either way, she’s not planning to make that decision anytime soon.</p><p>“I’m definitely going to try to ride it out as long as I can,” Chapman said.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Hall of Fame Classic</p><p>Where: Franklin Community High School</p><p>When: Friday (diving preliminaries, 6 p.m.) and Saturday (swimming preliminaries, 10 a.m.; finals, 3 p.m.)</p><p>Admission: $5 per session</p><p>Teams participating: Franklin, Chesterton, Concord, Floyd Central, Greenfield-Central, Greencastle, Plainfield, West Lafayette, Zionsville</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]