The Lake Superior State University Athletics Department mourns the passing of Mackenzie (Kalchik) Paul, who bravely battled Acute Myeloid Leukemia. A Class of 2022 graduate, she played four seasons for the Laker Women's Basketball team after competing for the Sault Area High School Blue Devils.

Mackenzie was diagnosed with AML in August 2023 while in medical school at Michigan State University. While she went into remission after treatment, her cancer returned in the summer of 2024. Alongside her husband, Brandon, she began chronicling her fight through social media platforms.

In September 2025, she published This Is What It Feels Like – A Book of Poems Written By A Cancer Patient, a collection of 45 poems and illustrations. Throughout her battle, she inspired many people through her videos and the #TakingBackWhatCancerTookFromMe series of posts.

During her time at LSSU, she won the Christina Comito Memorial Award and the team's Most Improved Award as a sophomore. She was named to the GLIAC Winter All-Academic Excellence Team in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

A two-time team captain at Sault High, Mackenzie was an All-U.P. Honorable Mention in her sophomore and junior seasons, and a Class B All-State Honorable mention during those same seasons.

A writer, an artist, an inspiration. Kenzie will be missed by so many, including all of us at Lake Superior State.