Multi-sport athletes are becoming more rare as each year passes with high hopes of excelling in their particular sport of choice.
This does not hold true for Pleasant Valley senior Jessi Meyer. Since the day Meyer stepped foot into the high school, she has done it all: participating in volleyball, basketball, track and softball.
As an eighth grader, she was a part of the softball team that brought a state championship home for the Spartans. The very next year, Meyer broke the starting lineup as a freshman, and yet again, did not disappoint. The softball team went back-to-back, putting another state championship trophy into the trophy case. Meyer and the Spartans made another trip to Fort Dodge her junior year, but fell short in the state semifinals.
Meyer’s success did not stop with softball, though. Meyer and the Spartans found themselves competing in the state volleyball tournament at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids not once, but twice. Both junior and senior year, they fell just short and finished their season in the state semifinals.
Meyer has been a part of the varsity track team since her sophomore year and qualified for state in one event, but never got the opportunity to make another trip to state her junior year as the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Meyer was also pulled up to the varsity basketball team as a sophomore, and saw significant minutes her junior and senior seasons.
While being on the roster for many extremely successful teams that racked up a plethora of awards, Meyer had a little collection of her own. Throughout her career, she was second team all-conference for softball, honorable mention all-conference for softball and academic all-conference junior and senior year for all four sports.
While competing and succeeding in four sports, Meyer has never let that get in the way of her school work, maintaining a 3.6 grade point average throughout high school. “I bought into the idea that school comes before athletics,” she said. “Yes, it got difficult when I had big papers or assignments due but also had a game or meet that night, but I had to stay on top of my work, even if that meant I didn’t get to bed until one or two in the morning,” Meyer expressed.
Head basketball coach Jennifer Goetz was able to coach Meyer for three seasons, and was able to get to know her not only as an athlete, but a person as well. “Jessi Meyer has been an absolute joy to coach. She is such a team player and did anything to help her team win. She made our basketball program better,” she said, describing her as an athlete. “It was a pleasure to coach Jessi- she will be missed,” Goetz added.
Reflecting on the last four years of constantly being on the move, Meyer does not regret a thing. “I loved it. The experiences I had and the friendships and memories I made are things that will stick with me forever,” Meyer said.
Meyer is finishing up her senior track season this spring, and will move onto softball in the summer hoping to make one last trip to Fort Dodge to wrap up her impressive high school career.
Carson Maxwell • Apr 27, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Good Work
alexis Morel • Apr 27, 2021 at 12:10 pm
I love that you did a specific highlight on a four sport athlete, and showed highlights of sports throughout PV