Running Division 1 Track
It's been Elsa's goal and dream to run D1 track since she was in 7th grade. Coming from such a small school the general experience with D1 recruiting in our district is rather minimal (actually it's basically non-existent). We weren't sure what to expect, but in September of 2015 recruiting letters starting pouring in:
I could go into her back pack at any given time and find letters like these just floating around:
We were in email contact over the past year with about 20 of the D1 schools that were seriously interested in her. NCAA Division 1 rules dictate that they can not contact recruits by phone until the 1st of July after their Junior year. We weren't sure what to expect on that day, but we blocked it off and prepared a check-list of questions, and a place to quickly jot down her feelings on each college track programs that contacted her. She was ready!
She had 11 D1 schools call her that day, and boy was she exhausted by the end of it! She learned a lot about each program, and more specifically got a good feel for how each coach runs their program, and how they hoped to utilize her in the future. By the end of the day she was able to narrow her "favorites" list down to about 5 schools.
We started making plans to visit each of these colleges, and over the summer actually traveled out to Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati (which had been her #1 choice for most of the year). She did not care for OSU, but loved Cincinnati! While there Cincy told her she was their top recruit and wanted to bring her down for an Official Visit (all expenses paid, but not to be taken until after starting your Senior year, and limited to a total of 5 Official Visits). Up until that point we did not know that was even a thing. Ha! We decided to hold off on traveling out to more colleges, and wait to see who might offer Official Visits. Nine D1 schools ended up offering. Thankfully her top three choices were part of that equation: Cincinnati, Lipscomb and Temple.
So we went:
Up until visiting Lipscomb she was sure that Cincinnati would be her college choice, but all that changed when she stepped onto the Lipscomb campus. It felt like home to her. The whole weekend was amazing, even though she came down with a terrible cold.
Not even a week home from that recruiting trip she confidently made her decision. We didn't even need to travel out to Temple University. After 5 years of hard work and training, and juggling all of the recruiting stress, she chose Lipscomb, and I couldn't be more excited for her!!
I could go into her back pack at any given time and find letters like these just floating around:
We were in email contact over the past year with about 20 of the D1 schools that were seriously interested in her. NCAA Division 1 rules dictate that they can not contact recruits by phone until the 1st of July after their Junior year. We weren't sure what to expect on that day, but we blocked it off and prepared a check-list of questions, and a place to quickly jot down her feelings on each college track programs that contacted her. She was ready!
She had 11 D1 schools call her that day, and boy was she exhausted by the end of it! She learned a lot about each program, and more specifically got a good feel for how each coach runs their program, and how they hoped to utilize her in the future. By the end of the day she was able to narrow her "favorites" list down to about 5 schools.
We started making plans to visit each of these colleges, and over the summer actually traveled out to Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati (which had been her #1 choice for most of the year). She did not care for OSU, but loved Cincinnati! While there Cincy told her she was their top recruit and wanted to bring her down for an Official Visit (all expenses paid, but not to be taken until after starting your Senior year, and limited to a total of 5 Official Visits). Up until that point we did not know that was even a thing. Ha! We decided to hold off on traveling out to more colleges, and wait to see who might offer Official Visits. Nine D1 schools ended up offering. Thankfully her top three choices were part of that equation: Cincinnati, Lipscomb and Temple.
So we went:
(very early flight out to Cincinnati)
(being crazy in the hotel after 2 days of being on her best behavior)
(following week we took the flight out to Nashville, TN to see Lipscomb)
Up until visiting Lipscomb she was sure that Cincinnati would be her college choice, but all that changed when she stepped onto the Lipscomb campus. It felt like home to her. The whole weekend was amazing, even though she came down with a terrible cold.
Not even a week home from that recruiting trip she confidently made her decision. We didn't even need to travel out to Temple University. After 5 years of hard work and training, and juggling all of the recruiting stress, she chose Lipscomb, and I couldn't be more excited for her!!
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