When I first began my college search I was certain that I would end up running for a Division I or II school. Those were the divisions that were talked about the most and the appeal of receiving some type of scholarship pretty much made up my mind. I had a few schools that were interested in recruiting me and I began to make my journey from school to school with the continued feeling of just being another number to their institution and their running program. I had one coach crunch some numbers and determine how fast of a runner I could become in his program. I felt like every coach I spoke with was hesitant of my ability and my enthusiasm to run to the best of my ability.
I started to get frustrated with the whole process of coaches talking about how great they were and how wonderful their program was because of them. I began to focus my efforts on education rather than where I was going to run, embracing the ideals of a Division III institution. I realized that my education was more important than partaking in athletics, plus running could be done anywhere.
Once I decided that Juniata was the place where I was going to further my education I scheduled a meeting with the Cross Country and Track and Field coach, Jon Cutright. He is the sole reason I made the decision to run at the Division III level. During my meeting he talked about the many runners he has helped coach and the accomplishments that they had achieved together. This was very important to me because he used the word “we” instead of “I”. He told me that he could only help me so much and that the effort and time that I put into running is what will help achieve my goals. I never once heard him talk about how great of a coach he was. He told me that I probably would not be one of his top runners unless I really worked with him.
Taking his advice to heart and trusting in his training has led me to become a runner up in the 3,000k (indoor) and a conference champion in both the Distance Medley Relay (indoor) and Cross Country. I truly believe that I would not have come nearly as close to achieving these goal or maintained motivation if I would have attended a Division I or II institution. I have had the ability to travel all around the east coast and have competed with athletes of all divisions. Division III has allowed me to continue my passion for running without having to worry about missing a meet due to schoolwork or personal reasons. Coach constantly tells the team how important it is to maintain a good GPA and that he will not hesitate to cut us if we do not hold one. Division III has provided me with an experience that has pushed me both academically and athletically.