CCHS' Theriot to attend college, play softball at West Point
Leader and tough were two of the words that Central Catholic softball coach Linda Sanders used Wednesday to describe her senior softball player, Rylie Jeau Theriot.
Theriot will take those two qualities with her to college later this year, both in the classroom and on the softball field, as she begins a journey as a member of the incoming class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.
Theriot held a ceremony to celebrate her appointment to the prestigious academy Wednesday at Central Catholic High School.
The process to get to Wednesday was a year-long journey just to be considered.
“I’ve had to go through congressmen interviews,” Theriot said. “I’ve had to get a nomination by a congressman or a senator. I’ve had to write over eight essays and do a physical assessment, just all these different aspects of the application to even be considered that I had to go through that is completely different from any other college.”
Theriot said attending the FBI Youth Leadership Academy in Quantico, Virginia, is something that “really kick-started” her exploration of a government career.
She subsequently attended a West Point softball camp where she talked to the coaches and looked into the academy to see if it was a fit for her.
“It was,” she said.
In January of her junior year, she began the process that ultimately led her to Wednesday in the school’s new gymnasium.
She has been recruited to college to play catcher, third base, first base or as a utility position.
While catcher is her preference, she said her dad taught her to play anywhere on the field as she was growing up.
Sanders lauded Theriot for her on- and off-the-field attributes.
“Rylie Jeau is an amazing player,” Sanders said. “More important than that, she’s a wonderful and amazing young lady.”
Theriot, a veteran on the Central Catholic softball team, was a second-team All-District 7-1A selection as a sophomore.
She said it is “kind of nerve-wracking and kind of unbelievable” to be able to attend school at the exclusive academy and play softball.
“It’s just such an amazing opportunity that less than 5% of the world gets to experience,” she said. “There’s only 11,000 people that can go and that are chosen each year, so it’s just an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for to even have been accepted to even step foot on that campus.”
She has been supported by multiple people in her journey to get to the U.S. Military Academy.
“My mom has helped me out through this whole entire process and basically held my hand along the process, because you can’t do it alone,” Theriot said. “A process like this is something that you can’t do alone. So my whole family has stood behind me, and all of my friends have stood behind me.”