In middle school, Jen Kuhn started an Instagram account called Softball Driven. She placed text on photos and posted videos she had made, her way of “dipping my toes in the water of social media and graphic design.”
More recently, Kuhn designed a logo chosen by her current school, Illinois Wesleyan, in 2022 for the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The logo appeared on T-shirts, banners, etc., as IWU celebrated the landmark legislation.
Not long after, Kuhn entered a SkillsUSA competition asking participants to design a T-shirt representing their state. Her entry won for Illinois.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Wesleyan softball TikTok she initiated as a freshman has grown to “over 33,000 followers and 2.6 million likes,” Kuhn said proudly.
An IWU senior, she is nearing graduation and a degree in graphic design.
After that?
“My long term goal is to work in sports social media,” Kuhn said. “What I’m really interested in is posting on social media, creating a platform for athletes and teams.”
She has applied for social media internships with National Football League teams and for graduate assistant positions with NCAA Division I athletic departments. She is excited to see what opportunities arise, but here’s something you should know about Jen Kuhn.
She is still softball driven.
A University High School graduate, Kuhn is capping a stellar Wesleyan career with a fabulous final season.
She was batting .493 through 22 games following a weekend tournament at IWU’s Inspiration Field. It was a team high, as were her 37 hits, 10 doubles, 30 runs batted in and .1201 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) for the 15-7 Titans.
Kuhn also had only two errors in 87 chances at shortstop, a demanding position she never played until her freshman year at IWU.
“I think last year was really a breakout year for me,” she said of a junior season in which she batted .434 and repeated as a first-team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin pick. “Everything felt like it clicked. I felt way more comfortable and confident at the plate.
“I really, really wanted to carry that into this year. It’s my last year, so I want it to be my best year, naturally. I tried to stick to the same offseason plan as last year.”
That involved continuing to take hitting lessons from Brock Till, a former professional baseball player. Kuhn has done that since her junior year at U-High. She also continued to work with her father, Mike, a U-High assistant coach who coached her in summer travel ball for several years.
A sophisticated pitching machine at Till’s facility has enabled Kuhn to better handle off-speed pitches. Her father also works with her when she asks and has been invaluable, she said.
“As opposed to a lot of people who have dads as coaches, I really loved my dad as a coach,” Kuhn said. “He always has known how to talk to me, how to handle me when I’m struggling versus doing well. I really love him for that. He’s a big reason I am where I am today.”
Mom has made an impact as well. Cheri Kuhn is a former softball player at Greenville College and coached her daughter in younger age groups.
These days, Cheri keeps her own scorebook in GameChanger at IWU games. She also sets up a camera that allows her daughter to access clips easier.
In short, she is “very involved,” Jen said.
“My parents haven’t missed a single game,” she said. “I love them so much for that and I appreciate it more than they can ever know. They’re both really involved in doing whatever they can to support me and help me succeed.”
At IWU, the success has included her back-to-back first-team all-CCIW honors after second-team recognition as a freshman. She also has earned academic all-district and all-conference accolades.
At U-High, she twice was named all-state and played on two sectional championship teams for Al Toliver. IWU head coach Tiffany Prager played for Toliver when he was at Olympia, a connection that helped while recruiting Kuhn.
“Al told me we would be getting a top-notch, high-quality player and person,” Prager said. “She is nothing short of that. She is someone who has changed our program and our culture for the better, and really from the second she stepped in. Who she is matters so much more than anything she ever does on the field.”
That said, Prager marvels at what Kuhn has done as a player. Her 193 career hits rank fourth in program history. The record is 226 by Jillian Runyon from 2016-19.
Kuhn’s 42 career doubles are second only to Sam Berghoff’s 44 from 2017-20. And her .493 batting average is on pace to break the season record of .486 by Audra James in 2012.
“Batting right-handed, to have the numbers she has … it is absolutely unbelievable,” Prager said. “The amount of work she has put in behind the scenes, that’s what shows up on the field.
“The hours and hours she has put in, not only in our practices but outside of practice, I would be interested to know what that number would be. She’s just a hard worker.”
None of it surprises Toliver, who considered Kuhn’s work ethic, versatility and character to be college-ready during her time at U-High. Kuhn was among the Pioneers’ top pitchers and also a talented infielder and catcher.
Toliver was reluctant to use her at catcher for fear a potential hand injury would keep her from pitching. He had a Division I recruit in Abby Knight, Kuhn’s close friend now at Illinois State, to play shortstop. So Kuhn filled several roles.
“She was willing to play wherever you needed her and she was good wherever it was,” Toliver said. “I knew she would do well at Wesleyan. Whatever she decides to do (for a career), she’s going to be successful.”
Kuhn already has had success in business. During COVID, she and a friend had an Etsy shop in which she designed, sold and shipped T-shirts.
Later, at IWU, she was part of a profitable small group in a Business 340 class called Starting In Business. Each group is given $500 in startup money that must be paid back. Kuhn’s group sold $15,000 worth of merchandise, with Kuhn using her Bloomington-Normal and area softball connections to acquire sales of shirts.
“It was over $9,000 profit and we set the class record,” Kuhn said. “That was really fun.”
There will be no joy in saying goodbye to softball, a game Kuhn has played since she was very young. Life without it is something “I can’t even begin to process,” she said.
“Every little part of it I’m going to miss, even the hard parts,” she said. “It’s my friends and these are some of the best memories of my life. It’s going to be really hard.”
Softball driven? Clearly, she still is.
As clearly, she has a lot more to give than line drives and diving catches.
Good news for all of us.
