At just 21 years old, ISU softball player Jen Bice has experienced both extreme highs and lows that a lot of people don’t even reach in a lifetime.

While in high school, she became the first softball pitcher in Iowa history to record 2,000 strikeouts, she pitched in five state championship games, and set a state and national record for games won in high school with a record of 179-18.

However, in May of 1997, right after Bice’s sophomore year in at Woodward-Granger High School, her mother, Lori, who was also her coach, died in a car accident.

Through it all, Bice has stayed strong.

“I’m good at not letting anything get to me,” said Bice, a junior in sport management. “You take from it what you need to and let the rest roll off your back.”

Her father, Mike, who Bice says is her role model, also lends lots of support.

“I just try to give encouragement as much as possible,” he said. “I get to as many games as I can, just there for support.”

For Bice, being a successful athlete comes naturally. At the age of five, she was playing softball.

By the beginning of eighth grade, she had led her ASA team to nationals, and a year later she was already pitching at the state championships for the high school team.

Her success carried over to other sports as well, helping her earn first in the Class A discus throw and fifth in shot put at the state track meet.

Bice also placed 14th in the discus her junior year.

Bice said she didn’t experience any pitching problems due to the extra throwing in track, except on one occasion during her senior year.

“I picked up the shot with a month to go [before softball started] and just heaved it,” she said.

“I didn’t throw right my senior year because that throw affected my arm a little bit.”

Despite that little setback, Bice wasn’t concerned with the extra stress imposed on her arm because she felt that there was just as much risk in injuring it in day-to-day activities as there was in track.

“I could walk and fall on it, could’ve gotten hurt anywhere,” she said.

Once out of high school, Bice came to play for Iowa State, her life long goal and proudest accomplishment.

“My greatest accomplishment is the opportunity to play for a team I’ve loved since I was little, and to play for a Division I team right out of a small high school,” she said.

In her first two seasons with the Cyclones, Bice compiled a record of 18-24 with a 2.92 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 271 1/10 innings of work.

So far this season, Bice owns a 7-8 record.

“Jen always rises to the occasion,” teammate and co-captain Adi Blackmon said.

“She’s unstoppable, especially when she gets that look in her face. That’s when she throws even harder.”

For the remainder of this season, Bice wants to keep up her self-confidence and help her team become more consistent, along with encouraging them to trust each other more in difficult situations.

This is especially important to Bice as a team co-captain because being a leader is a priority on her list.

“I try to project myself as a leader,” she said. “I want people to think, `She’s on her game’ especially with being the pitcher and in the middle of the game.”

Teammate and fellow pitcher Erica Martinez also feels that Bice is a great leader both on and off the field, as well as a good person to trust in a sticky situation.

“We talk a lot about what batters are hitting,” Martinez said. “It’s nice to have someone else to come in there [and pitch].”

Bice definitely thinks this year’s team has what it takes to succeed against a tough Big 12 Conference and daily games with teams who have been able to go outside and practice all spring.

“Everyone on the team has the confidence to beat anyone,” she said.

As for plans after college, Bice wants to work somewhere in the sports field, and that may include a chance to compete.

“It would be great to compete,” she said. “If I got the opportunity, I’d love it. Or else get a job where I can get out and be around sports.”

After battling through thick and thin, from small school to big university, Bice definitely has endured and succeeded.

“To kids who don’t think they can do it, going from a small high school to Division I, you can,” Bice said. “Soak all the information up and go to every clinic and camp.”