Photo by Melissa Tychsen
Left to tight: Jaycee Williams, Cemryn Pickett, Rory Carr and Brooklyn Tychsen.

By Will Cornelius
The Surveyor

Four of Berthoud High School’s (BHS) best senior athletes will continue their athletic careers at the next level. Last Thursday at BHS, Jayce Williams, Cemryn Pickett, Rory Carr and Brooklyn Tychsen all signed letters of intent for athletic scholarships.

“When I look up at the four young ladies that are sitting up here, congratulations to all of you. I mean, we have been super, super, spoiled here in Berthoud to watch these four girls participate in athletics,” BHS Softball Coach, Buddy Kouns told a packed room full of parents and students.

Williams, a star in both cross country and track will continue running at the University of Illinois. Last month she placed eighth at the 3A state cross country meet and was named a second-team All-State selection. On the track last spring she won the gold medal in the 3A 800-meter dash. In the classroom, Williams also excelled and maintained a 3.9 grade point average (GPA) through high school.

Long-distance running coach, Jordan Jennings called Williams a “once-in-a-lifetime athlete” and said coaching her was a pleasure. “The thing that really separates Jaycee for me is just her personality. She’s very humble,” Jennings said. “For her to be able to sign with Illinois, that’s a huge accomplishment to be a Big Ten athlete.” Williams plans to study kinesiology at Illinois and become a physical therapist.

On Nov. 18, Williams will compete in the Nike Cross Regionals in Mesa, Ariz. Last year she finished seventh in her classification with a time of 19:20.49. The star runner will also compete in her final season of track this spring as she looks to defend her 3A 800-meter dash crown.

After a superb senior season that included pitching four no-hitters, Pickett will join the softball team at Utah Tech University in St. George. Deadly with a ball or bat in her hands, the four-year varsity player finished her career with 642 strikeouts from the circle and 121 hits and 10 home runs from the batter’s box.

Pickett has made the honor roll for four years at BHS while maintaining a 3.5 GPA. “Cem has also been voted the number one daughter and sister by her family,” BHS Athletic Director Ryan Hilbig announced to laughter. The youngest of four with three older brothers, Pickett said she plans to study physical therapy and exercise science.

After coaching one of her brothers, Kouns said that he first met Pickett when she was in seventh grade. “You can’t help but be excited when you see a kid like this,” Kouns said recalling the first time he coached Pickett at a summer clinic. Besides her elite pitching and hitting, Kouns stressed how great a person Pickett is. “She is kind. She is loving. She is supportive. She’s funny. She keeps things light on and off the field. And those are the things that we can’t teach. You can’t teach that. And they’re special. Not all of us have it,” he said.

Heading out east, Carr will play college lacrosse at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut where she plans to study business. Through three years of high school lacrosse, she has 190 goals and 79 assists while making over 60% of her shots. In addition to being a standout lacrosse player, Carr is also a varsity basketball player. But most importantly, Carr maintained an astounding 4.238 GPA at BHS.

Playing lacrosse for the district team at Thompson Valley High School, Carr’s coach for the past three seasons, Kaila Stassi, spoke to the crowd about her favorite athlete. “This is a big one for me because I am stepping down from coaching this year. And so I’m going to miss coaching you more than anything. You were the reason why that was the hardest decision—probably of my life so far and I love you,” an emotional Stassi said. “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching Rory for three years now and she is one of our most elite star players that we have had on our team.”

Carr’s senior season as a Spartan is only just beginning. A key member of the varsity basketball team at BHS, she returns as the team’s top rebounder and will look to help the team return to the playoffs. However, that is just a warm-up for her spring season of lacrosse at Thompson Valley where she will look to lead the Eagles deep into the playoffs again.

Two-time state golf qualifier, Tychsen will stay on the fairway next year at Chadron State College in Nebraska. Tychsen has been a rising golfer on the Lady Spartans varsity team for three years now, continuing to outperform herself each season. After narrowly missing out on the state tournament as a freshman, Tychsen made the cut as a sophomore and placed 37th in the state tournament. Last spring she set the bar higher again with a tenth-place finish at state, carding 185 over two days.

Her high school golf coach, David Hunn was the final speaker at the scholarship signing. He explained that Tychsen’s motivation and drive to be better are not confined to her performance on the golf course. “The seniors have more responsibility, not more privileges. It’s really neat to see upperclassmen, such as Brooklyn, take on the maternal role with the underclassmen and say, ‘Listen, this is how we do things, you’ll get better just be patient.’”

At Chadron State, Tychsen plans to study sports medicine and athletic training. “She has that kind of perfectionism that we want to see in all of your athletes of wanting to get better all the time and not being satisfied with the status quo,” Hunn said about Tychsen. After playing varsity volleyball this fall, Tychsen will set her sights on returning to the state golf tournament for her third season in the spring.

Before putting ink to paper, Hilbig took a moment to highlight the exceptional dedication of the four athletes. “Nobody knows the amount of hard work that you all put into this except for yourselves. You know how much dedication, how many times you have had to say no to something else,” Hilbig told the future college athletes. He also acknowledged the coaches, parents and other community members who have spent countless hours at practices, driving to tournaments and supporting the athletes.