Madalyn Liebst is a senior soccer player who transferred this year from Oklahoma, but she is no stranger to Derby.

Q: How long did you live in Kansas previously?

A: I grew up here. I lived here till seventh grade, and then I moved to Edmond, Oklahoma. Then I came back for my senior year because my friends and family all live here and I like it better here.

Q: What’s your favorite part coming back after being gone for a couple years?

A: Just being able to see all my family and friends, like, all the time. I would only be able to come back like once a month and see everyone, but now that I’m here, I can just see them every day. It’s nice.

Q: How long have you been playing soccer?

A: Since I was probably like 4. I don’t know — a long time.

Q: When you were in Oklahoma, did you have a team you played for?

A: I played for the school and a club team called OFC. It was like a really big traveling team. We’d go to places like Vegas, North Carolina — it was pretty legit.

Q: When you came back did you plan to play soccer?

A: Yes, I actually did. I knew I wanted to play soccer because I knew the girls on the team, and I didn’t want to stop playing… and I played on the club team here, too — Wichita Premier with Lexi Winkle and Rileigh (Mahoney).

Q: How is it playing with the girls on the team? Did you play with them previously?

A: I played with some of them previously when I was younger, but a lot of them were new to me. We all clicked so fast, like they were really welcoming to me, and it’s just been a blast. I’ve never had a team like this that feels so fun. There’s never any negative energy. It’s really fun.

Q: When you came back did you plan on playing college here, or were there other states you were looking at?

A: I was actually looking at Colorado. I was originally going to play in Colorado, and I went up and I got an offer. But then it just didn’t go through with my parents, so I ended up going to Friends, which I’m happy about. It’s going to be really fun.

Q: How did you get into photography and art?

A: I took my first photography class when I was a junior and I was like, ‘I love doing this.’ Like, it’s all I wanted to do. Once I started doing it, I couldn’t stop. I just had an eye for it. I would just be walking around and I love seeing shadows and light.

I got into art sophomore year. I was just in a normal art class like painting, and then I just really loved it. And my teacher thought I was good, so she asked me to be in AP, and I was like ‘(heck) yeah.’