More than a decade ago, before she took over as the head coach of Illinois State women's soccer, Raleigh DeRose was working a summer camp at Bradley University in Peoria. Amid the chaos, a young girl with bright red hair caught her eye.
"She was a technical, fiercely competitive player, and she was schooling all the boys," DeRose recalled. "She stood out immediately. I remember thinking, 'That cute little girl is going to be an absolute baller one day.'"
Years later, while visiting home in Illinois during a coaching stint on the East Coast, DeRose walked into a local coffee shop and spotted that same unmistakable red hair. The girl was wearing an Illinois State sweatshirt.
"That's that little redhead from camp," DeRose thought to herself. "She's going to ISU. Good for her."
At the time, DeRose assumed their paths had crossed for the last time. But when she interviewed for the head coaching job at Illinois State years later and opened the roster sheet, one name immediately jumped off the page.
"Oh my gosh," DeRose said. "I know that girl."
That player was Sammi Cenek. Now entering her fifth and final season with Redbird soccer, Cenek's career at ISU stands as a masterclass in resilience and loyalty.
Over the last four years, Cenek has been the program's anchor. She has played under multiple coaching staffs, endured countless assistant turnover, adjusted to new tactical systems and fought back from a season-ending injury, all while watching the culture rebuild around her. Through every shift, she never doubted where she belonged.
"I just kept telling myself, this is where I want to be," Cenek said. "If a new coach comes in and doesn't want me, then my time here is over. But I wanted to be here. I kept trusting the process, and every single time, it just felt right."
Finding Home in Normal
Growing up locally, Cenek knew Illinois State's soccer legacy, but she still did her due diligence. She toured campuses and weighed her options, but every visit made her feel the same.
"I just kept comparing it to ISU," she said.
Cenek committed to the Redbirds during her junior year of high school. Yet, her loyalty was put to the test before she ever donned an ISU jersey. Prior to setting foot on campus as a freshman, the head coach who recruited her was gone.
"It felt like restarting the entire recruiting process from scratch," Cenek recalled.
Where other recruits might have re-opened their commitment, Cenek doubled down on being a Redbird, setting the tone for the rest of her career.
Playing for Something Bigger
While Cenek's resilience was tested early by coaching changes, her real test of endurance was only just beginning. During the spring of her freshman year, her perspective on the game itself shifted when she lost her close friend and former teammate, Tessa Sutton, following a courageous battle with cancer.
The tragedy reframed why Cenek stepped onto the pitch, reminding her that life has a purpose far larger than wins and losses.
"She's my why," Cenek said. "Every single practice is a blessing. Every single time you get to walk out on that field is a gift."
That newfound gratitude was put to the test just months later.
During the first regular-season match of her sophomore year, Cenek went down with a fractured fibula.
"I thought I was fine," Cenek remembered. "I told them, 'I'm going back in. There's no way I'm done.'"
Her athletic trainer gave her one chance to test it.
"The trainer was like, 'Okay, if you can jog to the corner flag and back at halftime, I'll let you go in in the second half,'" Cenek recalled.Â
She couldn't make it to the corner flag, and just like that, her season was over.
"The sport had never been taken away from me like that," Cenek said. "You always think, 'It won't happen to me,' until it does, and your whole world flips upside down."
Looking back, Cenek reframes the setback as a "blessing in disguise," noting that without the injury, she wouldn't have earned the opportunity for a fifth and final year in a Redbird jersey.
Together, the loss of her friend and the long road back from injury continue to shape how she approaches every day as a Redbird. Whether it is practice, rehab or competition, Cenek has built a reputation for embracing every opportunity.Â
"She's a very thankful kid," DeRose said. "She says thank you a lot. She's grateful. She comes into practice with good energy, and people feed off of that."
The Decision to Stay
Staying at Illinois State wasn't the easy route. In an era where college athletes routinely enter the transfer portal at the first sign of instability or losing seasons, Cenek chose to dig in.
"We won three games my freshman year, and I told myself right then: I'm not giving up on this team," Cenek said.
She held fast through a relentless carousel of staff updates.
"After probably the 10th coaching change, you start asking yourself, 'Is it us? Am I doing something wrong?'" Cenek admitted with a laugh. "But deep down, I just knew the right people were coming. I kept telling myself that."
Assistant coach Peyton Willie, who has coached Cenek for four of her five seasons, has witnessed the veteran overcome all these obstacles.Â
"She's probably had the most adversity when it comes to coaching staffs, injuries and position changes," said Willie. "A lot of people could have left and said, 'You know what? I'm done with this. I'm going somewhere that's stable.' She said, 'I'm trusting the process,' and three years later, she's still here."
Willie believes one of Cenek's greatest strengths is her willingness to learn, adding she wants to be the best player for herself and for her teammates.
"She's one of the most coachable people I've ever met," Willie said. "She'll literally apply exactly what you say, even if it's uncomfortable."
As Cenek grew through the adversity, she also grew into one of the program's most respected leaders.
"She's definitely a vocal kid," DeRose said. "She tells people what she's seeing on the field and what needs to be better. But she also shows up every day and sets the example. I've never had to question her work ethic or her intensity."
That leadership was never more evident than during DeRose's first season at the helm. Holding a tense 1-0 lead at halftime of a crucial match, it was Cenek who commanded the locker room.
"We are walking away from this game with three points," Cenek firmly told her teammates.
For DeRose, who was new to the program, having a player who could reinforce that belief from within the team was invaluable.
"Coaches say it because they believe it, but you need somebody on the field to breathe that into people," DeRose said.
Leaving the Jersey in a Better Place
When Cenek committed to Illinois State, her vision was simple: help restore Redbird soccer to its championship standard.
So far, the progress is tangible.Â
After helping lead ISU to the MVC Tournament quarterfinals in 2024 and a thrilling run to the MVC title match in 2025, she enters her super-senior campaign with unfinished business.
"My goal from day one was to leave this place better than I found it," Cenek said. "We want to win a championship, and I know this team can do it."
More than a decade after a young kid caught DeRose's eye at a summer camp in Peoria, Cenek has proven her coach's prediction right — she became a true leader, a program builder and an undeniable baller.
