The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point offers a plethora of athletics that sophomore Payton Mix and freshman Carly Cerrato have taken advantage of.
Mix has taken on the challenge of two sports in one year.
“I have never been able to decide my favorite, I love them both,” said Mix. Basketball and softball are the two chosen sports by Mix.
“I liked both and played them ever since I was little,” Mix said. “I played three sports in high school, which has helped me to balance the two sports in college.”
Carly Cerrato initially played volleyball for the Pointers but has switched over to women’s basketball and currently plays guard. Photo by Kylie Bridenhagen.
Cerrato does not play two sports in the same year but switched over from the volleyball team to the basketball team.
Cerrato said, “I was always going to Point and I knew I wanted to play a sport in college.”
First volleyball and now basketball, Cerrato was a walk-on to the basketball team.
“My heart was always in it. I really missed basketball and I would have regretted not trying out,” Cerrato said.
Basketball head coach, Shirley Egner, had previously recruited Cerrato while playing for her high school basketball team.
“I knew she was playing volleyball. She talked to me and the volleyball coach and she made the transition,” Egner said.
Egner knows both athletes and holds no “free pass” for the two-sport athletes.
Sophomore Payton Mix playing infield during a softball game last spring. Photo courtesy of UWSP Athletics.
“We make our expectations very clear,” Egner said. For Mix, the softball season can overlap with the end of basketball season.
Athletes are only eligible for 10 semesters of sports play. Some students take the opportunity to continue athletics if their major requires more than four years.
Each said they learned skills from both sports. The importance of hard work and practice are instilled throughout each sport. The rigor of volleyball prepared Cerrato for a new season in basketball, while Mix benefits from an already demanding season of basketball during the softball season.
“I’m not opposed to two-sport athletes if they can handle it,” Egner said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Sydney Denhartigh
Reporter
sdenh702@uwsp.edu
Each one of us has their own passion when it comes to sports. You just need to choose where you belong so that you can start to enhance the skills you have. It won’t be long that you’ll be like them who fights for the team and win every game. It requires a lot of determination to lead a team, that is why you should learn those things from these two athletes.