Growing from Greatness
Sarah Giles, a senior Digital Communication and Design major, is coming off of the greatest individual season in Jessup Athletics history. Equipped with the skills to excel in the game of softball, as she enters her final season with the Warriors, her goal is to be known by much more than just the pages she fills in the record book.
Giles began her third season at Jessup last month as the Warriors began the first NCAA Division II season in program history. The team is coming off the deepest NAIA postseason run of any team in school history, ending the 2024 campaign in the national championship game, with Giles coming off a national player of the year season in her own right. Her goal for 2025 is to improve.
“I want to be better than last year,” said Giles, who won the triple crown in 2024, leading the nation in batting average, home runs and RBI. “There is always something to work on. My mindset is to be aggressive and I want to one-up something from the previous year.”
The task of being better than the greatest season in program history is a lofty one, but for Giles, she sees improvement as something outside of the numbers.
“I’m not a stats person,” she said. “The numbers can say a lot, but it’s more about what people think when they see me. I just want to help out the team. It’s not all about home runs. I want to do more to help our team win. We won so many games last year because we didn’t worry about stats. We just wanted to get better and get the job done.”
Giles’ job on the softball field is to drive in runs and get on base for her teammates. Now a senior, she wants to make sure her final year has just as big an emphasis on being a student as it is on being an athlete.
The awards Giles accumulated last year included All-American, NAIA Player of the Year and GSAC Player of the Year. In 2025, she wants to add scholar-athlete to her resume, as well. To earn that distinction for softball, a student-athlete must finish with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Finishing last year just under the threshold motivated her to hit the mark this time around.
“Academically, I want to be a scholar-athlete. I was just shy of it last semester, so I want to try and do that. I want to be able to end on a high note.”
The award, distinguished in its own right, will not be the only driving factor pushing Giles through the finish line this year. When she completes the semester and walks across the stage at graduation, she will become the first college graduate in her family. Whether it be in the stands at every Jessup softball game, or encouraging her to succeed in the classroom, her family has been with her every step of the way.
Once she earns her degree, the future for Giles remains unknown. While there are opportunities to continue playing softball overseas, a career using her degree in digital communications is also sparking her interest. A native of the Bay Area, she is planning to return home at the end of the season and build a career in the region where she grew up.
“I’m more focused on building a career path for myself than I am playing softball professionally, but I am going to let God help me figure it out,” she said. “I want to do something that I love.”
Her faith plays a prominent role in her post-college decisions, as much as it has in her growth during her time at Jessup. Giles noted that she grew up attending youth groups and doing Bible studies, and now, as a member of the Jessup community, her relationship with Christ is growing in ways it never did before.
The family environment of Jessup, she noted, is the reason why. “Just because you’re at a Christian school, doesn’t mean it will make you a stronger Christian. Jessup feels like home to me. They help me read and study the Bible. They encourage me.”
Giles continued, “In my first week of school, we prayed, and it impacted me. When we would pray before class, it calmed me down and woke me up to seek a better relationship with Christ.”
It’s not just in the classroom, in chapel or in the dorms where the presence of God is felt at Jessup. It’s felt on the field, too. The Warriors come together and pray before and after every game. Win or lose, the team takes the time to come before the Lord as one. The Warriors are a family whose successes and failures are a collective moment. Even though Giles was selected as the best player in the nation in 2024, she wouldn’t be in that spot without the eight other players in the lineup with her.
“Last year, as I kept winning all of those awards, I kept reminding myself to not let it go to my head. Do everything for God, and play for the team. All the awards can be put to the side, and trust that everything will go according to God’s plan.”
Part of that plan includes growth for Jessup and a new opportunity to compete against NCAA Division II competition this spring. Giles added that she is excited for the new opportunity, noting, “It’s a blank slate for us. We don’t have any experience against these teams, but we’re used to playing against good teams. I think we play our best against the best, as we proved that last year in the World Series.”
It’s safe to say the future is bright for Sarah Giles. While all eyes will be on her when she steps foot into the batter’s box this season, the ones who know her understand that the impact she makes on the diamond, albeit a big one, is just a footnote in the legacy she is creating.
