Three West Plains students sign to continue careers at college level

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Three West Plains High School students made their college commitments official, with two track and field athletes and one filmmaker signing to continue their careers at the next level.

Brycen Williams, Isabelle Smith and Jace Hayes each signed during a ceremony celebrating their achievements and future opportunities.

Williams headed to Lubbock Christian for high jump

Brycen Williams, who recently won the first gold medal in West Plains track program history, will join Lubbock Christian University’s high jump team.

Williams said he had not considered college until LCU coach Trey Culver reached out with a vision for building the program.

“I actually wasn’t thinking about going to college until Coach Culver had called me and he gave me an insight on what I should do and what he had planned for me,” Williams said. “Coach Culver had mentioned building a program and I was all for it. I’m ready to build up a program myself.”

Williams will focus solely on high jump at LCU and plans to study strategic communications. He said he plans to work with his father in the future if he does not pursue high jump professionally.

Steve Bergeski, West Plains head boys track and field coach, said Williams has been a staple for the school and community over the past four years.

“He came in as a freshman, was able to make it to the state competition four years in a row, and if any of you know anything about track and field, it doesn’t matter how long your school’s been open. If you’ve got an athlete that can go compete at that level for four years, that is a tremendous accomplishment,” Bergeski said. “LCU’s getting a good one here. They want to build a high jump program around him and a couple other guys around this area.”

Smith overcomes injuries, signs with Friends University

Isabelle Smith battled injuries throughout her senior season but will continue her track career at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.

Smith, who chose to come to West Plains instead of Amarillo High, said the Christ-centered university stood out immediately.

“I’m very honored for this opportunity. I get to further my track career and experience a relationship not just through the school, but with Christ also,” Smith said. “It’s going to be quite a challenge, but I am ready for it.”

Smith will compete in multiple events across both indoor and outdoor seasons. During indoor competition, she will run the 200, 400 and possibly the 500, along with 60-meter hurdles. Outdoor season will feature the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles, with some additional dash events.

Friends University was the first school to contact Smith. She said the campus and area were beautiful, and she knew immediately it was the right fit.

Smith plans to major in Bible literature, though she is also considering sociology.

Adam Cummings, former West Plains head football coach, praised Smith’s perseverance through adversity.

“She’s battled a lot of injuries, a lot of adversity. The great thing about her, she’s such a good kid, such a strong competitor. She’s so coachable. She’s persevered through all that and had a really good senior year,” Cummings said. “She’s just scratching the tip of the iceberg of what she’s capable of, and I’m excited that somebody took a chance on her.”

Hayes lands video position with Texas football

Jace Hayes will join the University of Texas football program as a student assistant for video operations after four years filming for West Plains.

Hayes operated a drone during practices and filmed games for the Wolves football team.

“I had been filming for West Plains for four years since I was a freshman and when I was ready for college, I’d gotten an offer from [Oklahoma] to go do video and I’d applied to [Texas],” Hayes said. “So, I reached out to Coach Cummings and he sent me their video coordinator’s email, and I got in touch with him, got an interview and like two months later when I got accepted, I got the job.”

Hayes will begin his position in two weeks. He said Texas is the top public film school in the state and the country, with accomplished alumni and skilled professors.

Hayes will continue filming with drones during practice and capturing game footage for the Longhorns. He said he plans to make movies and short films during the offseason while continuing to work in sports broadcasting and filming.

“I was really the only one on the video program for those four years. Not to brag, I think I tried to do as much as I could. I set a standard from the video side,” Hayes said. “I hope that they find somebody as half as cool as me.”

Hayes said he even got to run out of the tunnel for a video this year, adding that he was proud to be part of the team despite not receiving public recognition.

Jeff Lyles, West Plains football offensive coordinator, said Hayes was essential to the program’s daily operations.

“I probably worked with Jace just as much as I did Reid Macon,” Lyles said. “He filmed the drone for us in practice, and we literally did it every day. Unless the wind was over 35 miles an hour, basically.”

Lyles said Hayes also filmed the wide and tight angles on Friday nights, which is the film traded with other schools. He said the program always received compliments on the quality of the film.

Hayes also created 15- to 20-minute highlight videos at the end of each season that became a highlight of the football banquet.

“He’s parlayed this into an offer from the University of Texas, from their director of video operations. He’s going to be a student assistant, filming with the drone in practice, filming in games,” Lyles said. “So he’ll be doing this at a much higher level with a lot more pressure. He’s very good at what he does and can pay him well for what he does.”

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