After successful playing careers for Fort Lewis, former softball player Kayla Stone and former volleyball player Chay Swenson are sticking around in Durango as assistant coaches to help the next generation of Skyhawks.
Stone becomes an assistant coach for FLC softball head coach Paige Adair after a quality playing career. Stone graduated from FLC in 2024 after hitting .438 last season which was second-best in program history. She played second base and was named Second-Team All-RMAC in 2024.
“She is really knowledgeable about the game,” Adair said about Stone. “She's passionate about the game. Passion is something you can't really coach, you can't really learn that. She's always had that for us as a player. She was someone as a player that when she talked, the girls listened to her, and she's a big leader on the team. I thought she would fit really nicely into the program with her passion and then obviously the knowledge that she brings.”
Adair said she had to push Stone to be more vocal in her career because Stone led more by example.
Stone should help out with her infield experience and Adair looks forward to focusing more on the pitchers with her background as a pitcher.
Adair doesn’t have a wealth of experience recruiting herself with this being her third summer as FLC’s head coach, but she’s excited to help Stone out in that space.
“She's going to do well, just because she's a good person and she knows talent,” Adair said about Stone. “So she's definitely going to help me in that aspect, too. She's got a lot of different connections in different places. She's from California, so she'll definitely help with that a lot more.”
Swenson joins FLC volleyball head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite after a four-year career at FLC. Swenson was an outside hitter and played in 46 matches in her four-year career. She was named FLC’s Comeback Athlete of the Year after this past season after battling injuries throughout her career.
As a senior, Swenson averaged 2.38 kills per set and 1.38 digs per set.
“I am very excited to welcome Chay to her new role as an assistant coach,” Tarnauskaite said in FLC’s press release. “She has been with me since my first season at Fort Lewis, and as my former player, she knows my aspirations for the program and expectations for the team. Chay is an incredible leader and example to others, not just on the court, but in life. Her leadership and support of the program is what we need to keep building on our success.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
