THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, October 30, 2015

Like her older sister of 17 months, Kootenai senior Grace McInturff is looking to become a pilot someday.

But instead of trying to become a pilot of an airplane, like 19-year-old big sis Katey Mae McInturff, 17-year-old Grace wants to fly a different sort of mechanical bird.

“I want to become a helicopter pilot,” Grace said. “I decided it’d be cool, because I thought it’d be something I could do.”

GRACE GOT the flying bug from her grandfather, Frederick “Skip” Roberts, a former firefighter since 1968 who was a division chief in Denver and owned a biplane. Roberts died last November of a heart attack and her parents, Doug and Roberts’ daughter, Darcy, had a feeling their daughter wanted to learn how to fly. The McInturff sisters were born in Longmont, Colo., near Boulder.

Grace has fond memories of gracing the friendly skies with good ol’ Granddad.

“He’d let me fly a little bit,” Grace said. “He was a great guy.”

Like some people who have aspirations to join the military, Grace has some family members who have been there, done that.

“She has some uncles, Gary and Jim, and a grandfather, my father, Buck McInturff, certainly have knowledge of serving their country,” Doug said. “They recognize that they’ve been blessed, they have had many opportunities.”

“Grace has been a part of a generation that’s very ‘me’-driven,” Darcy said. “They see things that you can do and say, ‘maybe I can make a difference.’ She’s participated a lot in her community, with 4-H, showing large animals. She went rock climbing, food drives, things like that.”

KATEY MAE currently attends the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and that’s exactly where Grace wants to be. Grace excels at four sports — volleyball, basketball, Blake Griffin had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford added 15 points in the Clippers’ 104-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night in Los Angeles’ home opener.

DeAndre Jordan had six points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots in his first game against the Mavericks since his summer misadventures in Dallas. Jordan tentatively agreed to join the Mavs as a free agent before the Clippers’ top brass and players descended on his Houston home and persuaded him to return to Los Angeles cross country and track and field. The 5-foot-10 younger sister has a 3.99 grade-point average in a school of 75 students — more than 200 from kindergarten through senior year — and for now is in line to become Kootenai’s valedictorian.

“I won’t find out if I get accepted until April,” Grace said. “I think it’s a good career, good to give back to your country for all that you’re given. I also applied to Georgetown and Cornell (among other colleges). I’m going into the ROTC program of whichever school I go to. I went to West Point for the first week of June. I know that the first year at the Naval Academy is hard, because you’re at the bottom. You have to adjust to being away from home and being told what to do. You have to adjust to your surroundings. Each class has about 1,300 and they graduate with about 300.”

Growing up with a sister that won the state pole vault champion meant Grace spent a good chunk of time in Katey Mae’s shadow.

“We did a lot of things together,” Grace said. “It’s hard not to be in her shadow. She did a lot of incredible things. It’s not a bad thing, it just motivated me. Growing up with my sister, she’s one of my closest friends. She’s been doing real well at the Naval Academy. She really loves it.”

Also, there’s older brother Hadley, 20, who attends North Idaho College and has traveled to Europe.

BUT THAT hasn’t meant Grace hasn’t made her mark as well, qualifying last year for state meets or tournaments in volleyball, cross country and track and field in the high jump. Last year, after the Warriors went two-and-out at the state 1A Division II volleyball tournament at Declo, Grace hopped into her parents’ vehicle and ran in the state 1A/2A state cross country meet the next day at Eagle Island State Park. Katey Mae finished 28th overall, with a time of 21 minutes, 54.17 seconds. Grace was 66th out of 105 runners (23:56.04). She did not score points in the high jump but was fifth in the 1A-2A District I-II meet.

“I was sleeping in their car on the way to the meet,” Grace said of the ride from volleyball to cross country.

Kootenai doesn’t have to travel nearly as far for the state 1A Division II state volleyball tournament this season, as it will be at Lewiston High. At 8 a.m. today, it plays against Watersprings of Idaho Falls and could play on Saturday. Then depending on how the volleyball team performs and the timing, with the priority being volleyball, Grace could possibly hop into Mom and Dad’s car again and travel to Farragut State Park in Athol, a healthy 2 1/2 hours north on U.S. 95, with the 1A girls meet starting at 10 a.m.

“Grace brings a force at the net, she’s intimidating at the net,” Kootenai coach Mary Gentry said. “Her athletic ability doesn’t match her demeanor. Grace isn’t one to take the spotlight, but she’s a huge team leader. She leads us in kills. She averages nine kills per game and she’s had 13 to 19 kills in a match. I know she’s a very motivated individual, she really pushes hard.”

If it wasn’t for the goals with trying to get into the Naval Academy or ROTC program, Gentry believes McInturff could play at the college level.

“I don’t think she realizes how talented she is,” Gentry said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we could get her an athletic scholarship. She wants to go into the military, which I commend her for.”

WHAT IS pretty unique about the McInturffs is in 2001, Doug bought St. Maries Wild Rice Company, now St. Joe River Wild Rice, a wild rice harvesting business from Grace’s uncle, Al Bruner. The business is located in the St. Maries area. Darcy is a nurse who works at Benewah Community Hospital. The family lives in Rose Lake, 19 miles northeast of Kootenai and a few miles south of I-90.

“It definitely makes September and October real hectic,” Grace said. “You don’t want the rice to fall into the water. We (Katey Mae and I) have helped wherever our parents need us, work the plow, help out with the harvest.”

So whether it’s flying the friendly skies and protecting our country in the future, being at the top of her game in athletics and academics, or yep, even harvesting that rice, Grace McInturff has distinguished herself quite well. One mile, in the sky or on the ground, at a time.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via de-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com or via Twitter @bourq25