Cari McClemons raised two ultra-competitive yet model athletes who rode on surfboards before they could walk. Two intelligent young adults who randomly wound up at the same university 2,000 miles from La Costa Canyon High School and their modest beach-area home in Encinitas.
Too remarkable? Try Ohio State.
Kaitlyn and Nolan Farley are a rare pair playing softball and baseball for the Buckeyes. They are the children of McClemons, who grew up in Bellevue, Neb., and became a professional surfer merely two years after riding her first wave in Pacific Beach at age 24.
“Ever since I can , I’ve been surfing,” Nolan said. “It’s just something our family always loved. The number of surfboards we have in our garage rivals the number of bats.”
A three-year starter for OSU (19-15), Kaitlyn Farley, 20, is a 5-foot-8 junior middle infielder with a career .294 batting average, five home runs and 54 runs scored. She’s also on pace to become a three-time OSU scholar athlete with a major in human development and family science.
Nolan, 18, is a 6-3 freshman four-spot infielder for OSU (13-14), still cutting his teeth but getting starts against left-handers. He’s also on track for his first OSU scholar athlete distinction as a finance major.
“They were always active,” said McClemons, who has racked up thousands of frequent-flyer miles this season alone to watch them play. “They never really watched TV. They were the last of their peers to have cellphones.
“They played every sport they could. They even invented some of their own. Both did gymnastics as kids. My attitude was, ‘Let ’em play and see where it goes.’ ”
Kaitlyn was as excited as Nolan when he chose the Buckeyes.
“It’s been so much fun having him here,” she said. “Being so far away from home, it’s great to have a family member who’s around and can be there to talk. We’ve always been so close, and having him here now, we get to experience this part of our lives together.”
Big sis provides a worthwhile source for bro as well.
“He doesn’t have a car, but I do,” Kaitlyn said. “He takes full advantage of that one.”
Either sibling could have ridden a number of sports into college, but both chose the diamond.
During the strange COVID-related spring season of 2021, Kaitlyn was the leader of an LCC softball team that made it to the CIF San Diego Section Division II semifinals. She was a key forward in soccer who scored a goal in a 2-0 Open Division championship win over rival Torrey Pines. She also finished fifth in the state in surfing … all within two weeks.
That same spring, Nolan was called up from JV before LCC won a CIF state championship in baseball, followed by back-to-back Open Division section titles his last two seasons when he batted .312 with only 21 strikeouts in 257 plate appearances.
“He’s all you’ve ever wanted as a coach,” said Justin Machado, the only baseball coach in LCC’s 27 years. “He showed up every day and worked his tail off.
“He played for the name on the front of the jersey not on the back. It’s something you dream of as a coach.”
Like her offspring, Cari was a standout student-athlete at Bellevue East High School in Nebraska, earning letters in gymnastics and diving while also on the cheer squad. She earned a B.S. degree in biology and psychology at the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a physical therapy graduate degree at Emory University in Atlanta. At Kearney, she also was a cheerleader for the Lopers.
McClemons moved to Pacific Beach to live in a warm climate near the ocean. In two years, she went from “never” to pro surfer with sponsors like O’Neill.
She traveled the surf world extensively and even competed while pregnant with both of her kids before starting her own physical therapy business, where she works primarily with athletes. Long before the kids went to LCC, she became friends with legendary surfer Rob Machado, the brother of Nolan’s future baseball coach. Rob Machado has shaped many of their boards, especially helping out as Nolan kept growing.
“I was a good surfer,” McClemons said. “I just wasn’t knowledgeable about the ocean because I’m from Nebraska.”
Competitive? This is a family that still has a ping pong table and a standings scoreboard in the garage. Nolan claims gold, while Kaitlyn and Cari battle for silver. Kaitlyn vigorously contends that ranking.
“Both of them would have excelled at any sport they chose to do — soccer, surfing, you name it,” McClemons said. “Kaitlyn had a love for all sports. Nolan liked them all, but baseball was his real ion. He used to spend hours watching MLB infielders and studying how they fielded different ground balls.
“Kaitlyn was always so tiny. She was 5-1 and 95 pounds her freshman year in high school.”
Even as a senior, Kaitlyn had college recruiters telling her she was too small. Nolan, although tall and 180 pounds, was not offered his OSU scholarship until late in his senior year.
Yet, there they are in Columbus every Wednesday evening, attending a Christian fellowship group called Cross Sports.
“God is in their pocket,” McClemons said. “That voice in their head. It has got to be positive. Faith is a huge thing with us.”
Slowly becoming sibling sensations in Columbus, the Farleys faithfully attend each other’s games whenever they can. They hang out often. They watch sporting events on TV or in person. They lean on each other.
“I love that they’re together,” McClemons said. “I love that they’re so ive of each other. It’s pretty remarkable.
“I would have never predicted one of my kids at Ohio State. But now that they’re both there, it’s a perfect fit for both of them.”
