While most of Smithfield High School’s college-bound 2025 graduates spend one last summer together in their hometown before heading to their respective schools, cross country standout Madelyn Berry is already starting the next chapter of her life as a Navy midshipman.

Less than two weeks after walking across the stage to receive her diploma, Berry left for Annapolis, Maryland. She’s the first Isle of Wight County Schools graduate in 25 years to earn an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, and the first female in the county’s history to be appointed to any of the five service academies.

Over the next six weeks, Berry will partake in what the Academy calls “Plebe Summer,” which indoctrinates freshmen – called “plebes” – into the traditions of Navy life. 

During this time, plebes learn basic seamanship, sailing, infantry drills and how to shoot 9mm pistols and M-16 rifles. They have no access to television, movies, the internet or music during this time and are only permitted to make two phone calls.

 The Naval Academy provides a tuition-free four-year undergraduate education. Roughly 1,200 candidates are selected each year for admission. Upon graduation, students commission as officers in the Navy or Marine Corps. The student body includes more than 4,400 men and women from all 50 states and several foreign nations.

Berry’s family has a history of military service. One of her grandfathers was career Army and the other career Air Force.

Berry cites her passion for triathlon racing as what drew her to the Naval Academy, which in 2023 became the 13th NCAA Division I program and the first U.S. military academy to offer varsity women’s triathlon. Berry is a three-time state qualifier who led the Lady Packers cross country team as a senior tri-captain last fall.

“I really fell in love with the mix of athletic and academic culture at the academy that is embraced by everyone,” Berry said in a school news release. “… I received the actual call notifying me of my acceptance the day after Christmas, much earlier than I expected. I can’t describe how excited and relieved I was that I made it in.”

In addition to cross country, Berry was a standout on Smithfield High’s swimming and indoor and outdoor track and field teams and participated in the school’s soccer and triathlon club sports. She also challenged herself academically with multiple advanced placement and dual enrollment courses.

“Madelyn has lived in Smithfield her entire life and attended Isle of Wight County Schools since kindergarten,” Berry’s mother, Sherie, told the Times. “We have always felt a strong sense of community support while raising our daughters here.”

Madelyn Berry told the Times the lengthy admissions process to the Naval Academy entailed filling out a preliminary application and applying for and obtaining a nomination from U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who represents Isle of Wight as part of the 2nd Congressional District and is herself a Navy veteran. 

Berry said she also needed, and received, three letters of recommendation – from two of her teachers and a coach – a Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board physical and a recommendation from a “blue and gold officer.” According to the Academy’s website, blue and gold officers are regional volunteers assigned to provide information about the Academy, Navy and Marine Corps to the high schools they’re assigned.

Berry plans to major in mechanical engineering and aspires to join the submarine service. In 2010, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lifted the Navy’s decades-long ban barring women from submarines and in 2024 the Navy commissioned the USS New Jersey, its first Virginia-class submarine designed to integrate a mixed-gender crew.

“I am interested in submarines because of my love for the ocean and water, the close camaraderie in the submarines, and the fact that women are only recently allowed to serve on submarines,” Berry told the Times. “I want to show other girls and young women that they can do anything the boys can, no matter how difficult.”

Madelyn Berry is the daughter of Sherie and Michael Berry and sister to Reagan Berry, who graduated SHS in 2022.