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High School Sports Yearbook: Class of 2026 star Chezney Whipker's rise from timid to top-tier As a freshman, Chezney Whipker experienced the highest of highs when she joined a Green Hill (TN) softball team that won the school's first state championship.
Over the next three years, Whipker experienced heartbreak, grew as a person and as a player, established lifelong friendships, and established herself as one of the best players in Tennessee, playing for one of the state's top softball programs.
Seeing old tape of herself, Whipker admits that she sees a completely different player than who she is today.
"When I look back at pictures and videos from my freshman year, its like its not even me," Whipker said.
"You grow so much over the four years.
The pictures and videos you look back at, during that time you think its a great hit but now you realize that it was just okay.
You can compare yourself but at the end of the day youre the same person." That infielder that raised a state championship trophy as a freshman continued to get better year-after-year.
On a team loaded with future Division I prospects, Whipker stood out.
She holds multiple single-season records, including hits (75), RBIs (95), and doubles (25), as well as the program career record in doubles (63).
The single-season doubles and RBIs records were set this past year while she batted .595 with 19 home runs, including four grand slams.
The growth Whipker saw in herself came in large part from her time in the weight room.
Before her junior season, she also played basketball and was a standout on the court.
However, because of the weightlifting schedules between the two and how differently each went about it, Whipker knew she had to choose one.
She knew college softball was in her future, so she pursued it.
"As a freshman, I was a scared little player who was afraid to make mistakes and was timid the whole time but now I know that Im going to make mistakes and that no one is perfect," Whipker stated.
"You have to have fun with it, and you get to go out with your friends and play the game you love and enjoy it while you have it.
In the weight room, I never really got to be a part of the softball weight room as a freshman or sophomore due to basketball but the last two years, I really fell in love with it.
"I started to work with my dad and running with the older girls because we wanted to be better.
Falling in love with it changed who I was and my mindset became better." A unique high school experience Whipker's first experience at Green Hill came not during her freshman year, but in middle school.
Due to COVID, middle school students took classes at the high school in a corner of the building during a hybrid schedule.
It was a different experience that let Whipker get somewhat accustomed to the school, but not fully.
"It was weird because youd come to one day of school in person and it would be on a Wednesday or something like that," she said.
"Because of that, you dont get to know everyone because only half of the class was there.
Freshman year was the full first day and I remember my mom dropping me off and I was walking with my neighbor and it was different.
You get to explore the other hallways now because in middle school you were stuck on two wings.
Exploring all the hallways and getting to know all of the teachers, it just felt comforting.
" From that time when she fully got to explore the school to the senior who walked across the graduation stage in May, Whipker said there isn't much of a difference in the person she is.
A lot of her interests have remained the same, but what is different are some of the friends she had then compared to who she has now.
"I feel like we all just grow so you see who people really are," Whipker said.
"You just have to find the right people to hang out with and people who push you to be the best version of yourself and push you through Christ.
Its really eye-opening to see who I was with as a freshman and who I now associate with." Green Hill prepared her for life beyond high school Knowing what she knows now, Whipker said there's not a lot she would change.
Winning more state titles, of course, would have been sweeter, but there was a lot of winning the program did while she played.
Not only was she a part of the first championship-winning program, but the Lady Hawks won 167 games during her four years.
Even more importantly, she established lifelong friendships with her teammates and the coaching staff, and she knows she'll be able to go back to them if she ever needs them for anything.
If she could sit across from the girl who was nervous about starting on a varsity team as freshman, Whipker said she has one thing she'd tell her.
"Enjoy it because it truly does go by fast," Whipker said.
"God has a plan for you and you have to trust that plan.
Theres going to be hardships, you're going to fail and youre going to have to learn how to carry that failure as well as the successes.
Its not going to be easy but thats life for you.
The memories and friendships you have, stick with them.
It really does go by fast, so enjoy those times and memories.".