Benny Westcott
Three Sweet Home High School student athletes on Friday, April 8, confirmed their intentions to compete at the next level at a college signing ceremony in the school’s gymnasium.
Jamie Seward signed to play NCAA Division I volleyball with Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Chloe Tyler will swim for Illinois State University (Division I) in Normal, Illinois, and Malia “Josie” Hewitt will swim at Colorado College (Division III) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“These three individuals are some of the most accomplished athletes that we’ve had come through the school,” said former Sweet Home High School Athletic Director Nate Tyler, who also is Chloe Tyler’s uncle, at the ceremony.
“And they are just absolutely wonderful people. They’re absolutely loved by all of their coaches, who praise and praise about how hard they work and all of the accomplishments they’ve been able to do.”
The trio of multi-sport athletes helped the Huskies win two swimming state championships, along with two runner-up finishes. They also combined for 17 individual first-place finishes at that level, as well as seven second- and six third-place performances. Additionally, they hold five school or state records among them.
Seward and Tyler also contributed to the Huskies’ first-ever state volleyball championship in 2021.
Seward, last season’s Class 4A state volleyball player of the year, chose Austin Peay, which competes in the Ohio Valley Conference, last summer.
“I really liked the coaching staff, and when I started talking to them it felt more casual than any of the other colleges that I talked to,” she said. “And I got in contact with the girls on the team early, and they all had great things to say.”
Although she spoke with coaches at many schools, she said she was serious about only one other: Georgia State.
While Tyler looked into a number of schools, she said she didn’t bond with some coaches as well as she did with the staff at Illinois State.
“I felt like they were recruiting me for more than just my skills,” she said. “They were recruiting me as a person. The first thing we talked about wasn’t even swimming and times, but just what I liked to do and what my hobbies were.”
She went on two other recruiting trips, to Old Dominion and Northern Arizona, before settling on the Redbirds, who compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“They’re actively building their program right now,” she said. “They actually placed higher in the conference this year than they have in the last couple of seasons. They got second this year, and then they recruited a pretty fast class of 2022.”
Hewitt said Colorado College was the only school she visited, and she liked it from the onset. The Tigers compete in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC).
“The area was amazing and beautiful,” she said. “Colorado’s sunny all the time. And the people are really sweet there. Everybody’s so nice and welcoming. I already felt like I was a part of the college. I just felt so included in everything.”
She looks forward to competing for Head Coach Anne Goodman James, who has 46 years of experience as a collegiate head coach in all three NCAA Divisions.
At Sweet Home, Hewitt, Seward, and Tyler have competed for Doug Peargin, who has coached the Huskies for 48 years before stepping down this year, though continuing as an assistant as the girls won the school’s fourth state swim title. All three girls won individual championships as well.
Hewitt additionally cited Colorado College’s “amazing academics.”
Indeed, the college boasts an impressively low acceptance rate of 14%.
Hewitt said her search consisted of mostly small liberal arts colleges. Her second top choice was Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Middlebury College in Vermont was another possibility.
As the three decorated athletes continue their careers, they leave big shoes to fill for the Huskies.
“They are sorely going to be missed,” Nate Tyler said. “But we are super proud of each and every one of them.”