TWIN FALLS – Tiffany Humpherys tried to wipe away the tears. A swipe with her left hand. One with her right.
The emotions flooded.
Especially when her mother spoke about Humpherys’ sacrifices, like commuting to Boise several times a week for club track practice, when her coaches spoke about her past injuries and all the weekends away from home.
But the dreams Twin Falls’ Humpherys held since she was 4 became a reality Wednesday when she signed with the Oregon Institute of Technology for soccer and track on scholarship.
“I want to be the best I can be and it really showed that I do work hard,” Humpherys told the Times-News. “I am really excited. Excited for everything that is gonna come.”
Humpherys played nine years’ worth of club soccer (five with Rapids Soccer Club and four with Magic Valley Surf). She found a natural fit with a mix of speed and a relentless motor.
People are also reading…
“It is 100% all the time,” Twin Falls High School activities director Shaun Walker said. “I have never left the soccer pitch and ever thought to myself, ‘You know if Tiffany would have gone a little harder, she would have gotten to that ball first.’”
Humpherys tried dance. Basketball. Plenty of other sports growing up but track and soccer never tired.
She became a two-time All-Great Basin Conference soccer selection as a captain, helping the Lady Bruins to three GBC titles and three state finals appearances which featured a 2021 title.
Her two goals lifted the Lady Bruins to a Great Basin Conference Tournament championship in October.
Tiffany Humpherys scored both goals to lift Twin Falls to a 2-1 win over Canyon Ridge in the 4A Great Basin Conference Tournament championship on Wednesday night.
High school arrived and she hit the track, too.
Her times immediately became some of the state’s fastest. A three-time state qualifier in four running events.
Humpherys, without the option of a track club in Twin Falls, joined Idaho Dash in Boise. Not just for meets, either.
Idaho Dash head coach James Honell was not present but wrote a letter that Humpherys’ stepfather, Cameron Evans, read.
“Leave it to Tiff to not take the easy route, but the route that will challenge her,” Honell’s letter said. “The route that will not be easy. The route that will allow her to continue to grow as a human.”
Humpherys said she is the only Magic Valley athlete who travels to Boise several times a week for training with Idaho Dash.
“She just has so much grit and determination and I think that is going to be huge for her in both track and soccer,” former TFHS girls soccer head coach Katie Kauffman said.
Humpherys misses plenty of school (right now her school day ends at 1:30 p.m.) but makes it up through online classes and work releases, as she works extra hours with her mother, Mendi Evans, at Innovative Medical Imaging in Twin Falls.
A four-time All-American sprinter for Idaho Dash, Humpherys won two 4x400 meter relay state titles and seeks her third in the spring.
She becomes the second college-athletics bound senior in the family as stepsister Halle Walker signed with University of Montana volleyball in December.
Humpherys will study radiologic science, following her mother’s profession.
“I grew up around it (radiology) a little bit,” she said. “I always wanted to be in the medical field. I wanted to do teeth but saw my brother’s teeth get pulled and I was over with that. I want to be in the first line of getting someone healthy.”
The Owls, set in Klamath Falls, Oregon, compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, the same league as College of Idaho.
“I have two sons, but never a daughter,” Honell’s letter said. “If I did, I would want her to be like Tiff.”