It’s no easy task balancing the demands of being a student-athlete. Having to juggle practices, conditioning work, club seasons and high school games, meets and matches is no easy task while also having to keep earning solid grades and preparing for life outside of the world of sports.

Photo by ACP Media – Berthoud’s Jaycee Williams competing in a race last season. Williams, in just her first two years as a BHS athlete, has broken multiple school records, won a pair of state championships while also excelling academically.

Yet there are some – and Berthoud High School’s (BHS) Jaycee Williams is one of them – who make it look easy.

Williams, now just a little more than a month into her junior year at BHS, can already boast a ledger of accomplishments and accolades longer and more prestigious than almost anyone who has come through the school.

Williams, who competes as a distance runner in for the Lady Spartans cross-country and track & field teams, has already won wo state championships as the anchor leg of the 4×800 meter relay team, has earned All-Conference and All-State honors in both sports in both her freshman and sophomore years, holds the BHS records in the 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run and 5K cross country race, all records she has broken her previous bests in many times over. Last fall at the cross-country state championships, Williams finished in fourth place, marking the best-ever finish by any BHS athlete in the history of the program.

Perhaps what makes Williams’ all the more impressive is that she has been able to win championships and break records while also maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average, being actively involved in the local 4-H program and enjoying the dynamic, enjoyable social life of a typical young person.

She remains humble about her accomplishments, in all facets of her life, and simply credits her dedication to working hard and the love support of her friends, teammates, coaches and family.

“I feel there is no secret, you just have to work hard, that’s what my parents always told me,” Williams aid. “I want good grades so I can go to a good college, really for me I just want to be good at everything I do so that’s what really drives me. I think about my goals, that helps push me more, if there’s any opportunity I have, I always try to take it.”

Having the right genes has helped, she conceded; her brothers, Colton and Dalton Williams, were standout, multi-time state qualifying wrestlers at BHS, her father, Dusty, competed for years in rodeo and her mother, Mandi, tried her hand at multiple sports, thriving mostly in volleyball.

With her God-given natural ability, Williams said she participated in multiple other sports during her elementary and middle school years but fell in love with running, citing the unique competitive environment.

“It’s the community, you meet a lot of people, at every run you get to talk to people, it’s really fun, you get to know a lot of people in a way that’s different from a lot of sports, it just struck with me,” she explained. “I really enjoy the challenge, pushing myself, being pushed by my teammates and the other runners. I just want to get faster each year, be the best I can each year, race people that will make we better and faster,”

Williams has torn the high school circuit to shreds, in just her first two years, and has received invitations to try out for national meets and events. Traveling to Oregon for a national event, Williams conceded the pre-race nerves were more pronounced than even the state competitions here at home. Jordan Jennings, BHS cross-country and track coach, helped her steel herself and focus on the task at hand. As Williams explained, “Coach Jennings has tried to tell me to think of it as any other race but that can be hard, when I went to Oregon, you’re in the biggest, best stadium in the world, so you put a lot of pressure on yourself. It’s different because the competition is crazy, you have to really fight for your positions.”

Williams admits that, even though she’s just beginning her junior year, thoughts of life beyond high school are regularly at or near the forefront of her mind. She has, unsurprisingly, already received a great deal of interest from various college programs but is waiting to see what others may come, and actively working to get herself noticed in what is now a worldwide field of athletes. “I’ve really started to prioritize what I like, but I want to get my times faster and get as many opportunities as I can,” she said, adding that she will heavily consider academic, as well as athletic programs for her next level, saying she wants to be involved with agriculture and animals as a career path.

This year, the high school season will be different. While she has been one of if not the most accomplished runners on both the track and cross-country teams, the graduations last May of two team leaders – Ally Padilla and Olivia Krueger – who also happen to be two of her closest friends, has changed the dynamic of the teams, from both an athletic and social perspective.

The pair, both of whom, along with Josie Diffendaffer, were teammates with Williams and on the state champion 4×800 relay team. Williams explained that the void left by the graduation of a talented lot of seniors leaves her as the team’s leader.

As she explained, “There’s definitely pressure there, we lost two main people, two of our captains, two of my good friends. Being a leader and stuff, moving up there, (Olivia) and Ally knew what they were doing, they taught everyone a lot, they taught me a lot about running, they were great leaders, and now that’s what I want to press on everyone else.”

Asked if she has a message to share with the community, Williams said she is grateful for the outpouring of support she has received but she remains incredibly humble, saying she has no secrets to her runaway success, no pun intended, and that it all comes down to, “just being yourself, working hard.”

Indeed, sage advice for anyone.

Cross-county competes in Longs Peak League Meet

While Williams, among many others, were held out of the most recent cross-country meet in preparation for a meet in Arizona slated for the weekend that will draw competitors from multiple western states, there were some highlights for the Berthoud runners from both BHS and Turner who took part.

The young runners from Turner shined brightly, winning both the girls and boys teams titles, assuring that the high school team will continue to benefit from an influx of standout distance runners as the Dragon harriers progress to Berthoud High. Turner Middle School seventh grader Ethan Novak won the boys race and seventh grader Lydia Cabrera placed second in the girls race.

Standout Berthoud runner Afton Cooper, who helped lead the boys team to their best-ever finish at the 3A state meet in 2021, placed 27^th in what was only his second meet of the season as the sophomore recovers from illness. Senior Evan Torres, a state qualifier from last year as well, took 50^th place, in a field of 270 runners, as the second Spartan across the line. An exchange student from Poland, Jagoda Blumska, led the Berthoud girls team, finishing in 49^th place while Gabby Hernandez placed 59^th. Head Coach Jordan Jennings stated, “This was Jagoda’s 5K PR (personal record). She just keeps improving.”