The transition into college athletics often comes fast, defined by morning lifts, long practices, far travel and the immediate pressure to perform. For both Clay and Allie, that change also came with something less visible, a search for community and identity beyond their sports.

Clay, a pitcher from Noblesville, Indiana, and Allie, a swimmer specializing in the IM and breaststroke from Carmel, Indiana, are both Butler alumni whose paths were strikingly similar, shaped by the same discipline, demands, and rhythms of student-athlete life. It was those parallel experiences that ultimately brought them together. What began as separate athletic journeys grew into a shared one: they met at Butler, built a life side by side, and now call the Indianapolis area home as a married couple.

"It was a big culture shock for me," Clay said, coming from a background where church had been a constant part of his life. That sense of disorientation was not unfamiliar to Allie either. 

While their sports and teams looked different, the feeling was similar—life moved quickly, and meaningful connections did not always come with it. 

For Clay, that meant isolation.

"We had like two Christian people," he said. "Once COVID happened, he graduated, so I was pretty much the only Christian for about three years." Surrounded by teammates but lacking a deeper connection, he felt that "the community part was absent."

Allie's experience unfolded differently, but led to the same realization. By the middle of her freshman fall, and a lot of time spent surrounded by teammates, something felt absent.

"Come October, I realized, oh, there is a whole community out there that I am missing," she said.

That feeling led both of them to the same place: Athletes in Action and the Cru House.

"AIA and Cru were big avenues for me to get that biblical fellowship, biblical community," Clay said.

For Allie, the people made it special. "It started with Jenny just pouring into me as a little freshman," she said, describing how one relationship led to another—first a freshman Bible study, then a deeper involvement that would shape the rest of her time at Butler.

What they found was not just a weekly meeting, but a space that filled a gap both had felt. Through injuries that challenged them physically and mentally, that community became even more significant.

Clay spent nearly three years sidelined, working through a long recovery that tested both patience and perspective.

"Twenty-two months of non-stop rehab daily, it takes a lot out of you," he said. "I don't think I could have done it without a faith background because it makes you think differently on life. If it worked out, great, I'll use it to God's glory. If it doesn't, then great." 

Allie faced her own challenges in the pool.

"It was just chronic pain all the time that we couldn't really get ahead of," she said. "That's when I really started to struggle, but also really leaned into the Christian community."

In those moments, the Cru House offered something steady.

"They said, 'Hey, come over, our door is always unlocked... come over and use our space as you need,'" Clay said, referencing Jeff and Susie's welcoming nature. "And who does that? It's just how hospitable and generous they were."

Even for Allie, who was mainly mentored by an Athletes in Action leader, the kindness of Jeff and Susie was clear.

"They had no idea who I was, but they made an impact on me in the fact that I felt welcome," she said. "There was always a space where I felt like I could go and feel like I was home." 

Clay's sense of belonging did extend beyond the house and into mentorship.

He described his relationship with Jeff as a "Paul and Timothy type of relationship"—intentional and consistent. 

"Maybe once I reached out to them to meet, it was them reaching out to me weekly to meet," he said. "I'm just one of hundreds that they would do that for on a weekly basis." 

Over time, what both of them received began to take root in how they led others.

Clay started a Bible study within the baseball team, creating a space where teammates from different backgrounds could come together and grow in faith.

Allie followed a similar path, stepping into leadership within the swim team. After learning that a team Bible study had faded in previous years, she felt called to bring it back.

"AIA became such a key part of how I developed as a swimmer, a person, and recognizing my worth and values," she said.

For both of them, faith became something integrated into their athletic experience.

"Sophomore year on, I feel like faith became way more of like a solid foundation for everything that I was going through," Allie said.

By the time they left Butler, what they had found at the Cru House did not stay behind.

For Clay, faith had long been a steady presence in his life—something he did not discover in college, but continued to mature and live outwardly. After graduating, he started a new Bible study with a group of 12 friends, building a rhythm of connection and accountability. 

"We all attend different churches, and then we come together jointly, weekly, every Tuesday night and we share what we learn on Sundays," he said.

That community also became a space where lives have been changed. 

"It was cool because one of my roommates, who didn't have faith in school, ended up being my best man at our wedding," Clay added. "He joined that group and has strong faith now."

For Allie, that same foundation took on new depth as she stepped into medical school. She credits the faith community she found at Butler with helping her recognize early on the need for a Christ-centered group in a demanding season of life. When she began at Marian University, she quickly got involved with the Christian Medical and Dental Association.

"They do weekly Bible studies, I have met some of my best friends through that," Allie said. "They are such cheerleaders in being a Christian and what does that mean in the context of being in the medical field, and how does that play into how I care for patients and kind of grow my faith in that." 

Looking back, she can see how each step, from Butler to medical school, has helped her lean into her faith to the point where her passions and relationship with the Lord are no longer separate, but fully intertwined. 

"I would not have realized that need, of like how desperate my need is for God and for Christian community had I not gone through that at Butler," Allie said.