Softball’s CeCe Luster finished up this year being named to her second All-Golden State Athletic Conference team and ranks near the top in numerous Biola offensive historical statistics. What adds to the accomplishment is that the sophomore has reached these milestones through only two years of playing.
“It’s sort of been a dream come true,” Luster said. “One of my goals was to be a four-time all-conference player, so two years down, two to go, it’s exciting.”
Softball provides numerous opportunities for Luster
For Luster, the journey of playing softball throughout her life has opened her up to a wide range of opportunities off the field.
“I’ve been able to travel to different states and see a bunch of different places. I’ve met so many great people through softball,” Luster said. “Not only has it been a great experience as far as my athletic ability and being able to share that, but it’s been great in my personal life as well.”
Luster has not only grown a lot on the field while at Biola, but also in her everyday life and taking advantage of all Biola has to offer.
“I’ve grown a lot in my relationship with Christ because of softball here and I think that’s awesome so that’s a huge factor that I love so much about Biola,” Luster said. “I like the community atmosphere, like it’s really nice to know that we’re all brothers and sisters living for Christ and being able to go to chapel and getting to experience that.”
As it is with most college teams, the team is a family and has a unique bond that not many others at the school get to experience. The bond goes outside of the school year, though, with the Biola team mentoring a high school team over the summer.
“We really do everything together. I don’t think there’s a day where we don’t see each other,” Luster said. “We have workouts together in the morning, practice in the afternoon, we do character building. It’s just like a really huge family.”
Luster keeps up with the pressure of chasing records
Besides becoming a four-time all-conference player and capturing the Biola RBI record, which she did this season, Luster has goals for her final two years — breaking the Biola home run record and becoming an NAIA All-American.
“It’s kind of stressful,” Luster said of her pursuit of the records. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. A lot of people say they aren’t putting pressure on me, but I feel the pressure. I hope I can keep playing for God and showing my athletic ability.”
Team has potential to succeed in future
The young softball team is still looking to improve off of a less than successful season this year after finishing 15-29 overall and 1-15 in GSAC play.
“We’re a young team so hopefully we can step up and mature these next few years,” Luster said. “The teams that have older girls on their team are more successful because of the maturity level and more experience behind it.”
Biola’s young team has potential though, which could lead it to being a force in years to come.
“Our family atmosphere is great, our athletic ability is there, but I just think we need to put it all together and just get the job done,” Luster said. “We have some great recruits coming in. My class specifically, we are going to be juniors next year, we’ve been at the college level for two years and I think we’re ready to just handle it.”
