LAKEWOOD, CO- From a Division I football player at Colorado State University to a Division II baseball player at Colorado Christian University, in a short period of time, Sawyer Shepherd did it all.
At a small Christian high school, Resurrection Christian in Windsor, Shepherd would become the first Division 1 recruit from his school, but this wasn't his original goal. Shepherd wanted to play baseball coming out of high school but with the incredible opportunity before him, he felt pressured to choose football, so he quickly took the offer to play at CSU. Within the first semester at CSU though, Sawyer started to miss baseball and didn't feel like he was where he was meant to be. After he completed his first semester, Sawyer officially decided that CSU was not the right fit and headed home to figure out where God was truly calling him.
While doing research on where he wanted to play baseball, he said, "I had a dream that I was playing baseball in uniforms that were Columbia and yellow." The next day he found Colorado Christian University with the same colors as in his dream, and he knew he was being called to CCU. He emailed the coaches right away and received a quick response.They had him out for a tryout and that same day he received a scholarship. The baseball team had open arms when Sawyer joined the team as a transfer, and it quickly became a community he loved.
During his time at CCU, Sawyer started out as a nursing major but ended up not being able to proceed because of his baseball schedule. He then turned to a health and science major but did not feel like it was his calling. He now is pursuing a Pre-Physical Therapy degree to help fulfill his dreams of helping and serving others.
Throughout his life, his parents have been his biggest supporters. When he was going through the stress of switching schools, he felt like he was a failure to everyone around him. However, his parents supported him in every decision he made, especially the decision to come to CCU. Without them, he wouldn't have been able to attend Colorado Christian. The support didn't stop there though.
The player-to-coach relationship at CCU was another aspect that further led Sawyer to believe Colorado Christian was where he was meant to be. It changed the way he viewed baseball and he came to love the sport again. Logan Heflebower, their infield coach, became a prime example of this impactful player-to-coach relationship as Sawyer spoke about his coach's ways of leading him through tough days and viewing him as more than just an athlete.
Through his journey so far, one piece of advice Sawyer would give people is to focus on your mental health and knowing that you are not the only person that feels the way you do. "We are all humans and have emotions. In the Bible, David and Jonah were stressed and anxious, but turned to God in their times of need. We need to lean on God and build our foundation on him, and that will build the rest of our lives."
