Even the best high school athletes are apt to feel like small fish when they first hit the water at the collegiate level.

Then there’s Courtney Rogers. The former Marion High School soccer standout quickly made a dramatic impact both on and off the field during her freshman year at Coe College this past year.

As if there’s any doubt, Rogers will receive a Meritorious Service Award from Iowa Governor Terry Branstad at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 17. She was one of four Coe students who sprang to the aid of a tennis player who collapsed after a workout on a warm day last August.

It was the first day of classes, Rogers says of that unforgettable afternoon. She and a few teammates were doing a kick-around before practice at Coe’s Clark Field, where they noticed a big kid jogging around the track. His name was Sam Gordon, and he was a freshman from Colorado who had decided to run a few laps after his tennis workout.

Overwhelmed by the Iowa heat and humidity, Gordon sat down on the bleachers to rest and promptly passed out, falling awkwardly under the structure.

When someone screamed for help, Rogers, two teammates and a student trainer rushed to the scene. Gordon’s body was wedged under the bleachers. “His face was blue and his head was bleeding from the fall,” Rogers says of the terrifying sight.

Remembering her athletic training, she raced to a phone to call 911, then joined hands with the other students as they lifted the bleachers and pulled Gordon’s body clear. Her teammate Emily Kleinmeyer, a former lifeguard, immediately began chest compressions, and the student trainer did mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“He started breathing, but he had a seizure and started foaming at the mouth,” Rogers recalled. “It was so scary.”

An ambulance arrived within minutes to transport Gordon to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was unconscious for nearly two days. “He had heat stroke and complications from asthma,” Rogers says.

“When it happened, adrenaline took over for me. Afterwards, we all started bawling. We were so shook up we could barely practice.”

Fortunately, Gordon recovered fully from his harrowing experience. “They told us that if we hadn’t been there, he would have died. It’s an awesome feeling to know you helped save a life,” Rogers says. “It was a day I will never forget. To this day we still talk about it. Sam refers to us as his angels.”

The foursome was subsequently recognized by St. Luke’s Hospital and the American Heart Association for their quick thinking and adherence to the new CPR guidelines – the first issued in 40 years – calling for the immediate use of chest compressions rather than mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

When Rogers received an envelope from the State of Iowa earlier this year, she thought she might have been issued a speeding ticket. Instead, it was a letter informing her that she had been chosen to receive a Meritorious Service Award from the Governor.

“We all feel so blessed,” she says. “We were just so happy that Sam survived.”

If her first day as a college freshman proved momentous, Rogers’ first tilt as a Kohawk soccer player was also a keeper. An immediate starter, she scored her first goal 82 seconds into the season opener against Westminster College, a contest that yielded a 2-0 victory for Coe.

A three-time All-State player at Marion whose high school coach described her as the team “general” on the field, Rogers played defense all four years for the Indians. When Coe Coach Homer Screws put her in at forward, she wasted no time in taking command.

“I couldn’t believe it. My first college career goal and the first goal of the season for Coe in less than two minutes. I felt a lot of pressure starting as a freshman and being put at forward, so that really helped. I thought, ‘Maybe I am good enough.’ It was a lot of fun after that.”

The season had its ups and downs, she says, but the Kohawks finished well and made the Iowa Conference playoffs. “I played every game, nearly every minute, and I loved every minute of it.”

Screws, who describes her as one of the most versatile players he has ever coached, changed her position from game to game and even during games, Rogers says.  “It’s a lot different than high school. The girls are way more aggressive, it’s a quicker pace, and I like the competition.”

After a summer foot surgery, Rogers is off the field for now, but expects to be 100 percent by the start of the conference season on Sept. 24.

Her Metro teammates include Screws’ daughters Lindsay and Sydney, from Jefferson, and former Kennedy player Jenny Snook. With a team that returns everyone except one senior from last year, they’re aiming for a top-3 finish in the conference.

Rogers says her remarkable first-year experiences helped her bond quickly at Coe, where she is majoring in pre-physical therapy and athletic training with a minor in Spanish. “The classes are a lot harder,” says Rogers, “but everyone is so friendly at Coe and the professors are amazing.”

No more so, it would seem, than her first year of college.