As the school year is coming to a close, seniors are deciding which college is going to be the best fit for them. Some seniors are continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level. These seniors have put countless hours into their given sport to help prepare them for the road ahead. Five seniors, Conner McCracken, Elle Smith, Evan Davis, Beth Struble, and Eric Myers were interviewed about what is coming at them in the next level. Here is what they had to say.

Conner McCracken

1. What college are you planning to attend?

Juniata College.

2. What are you majoring in in college?

Exercise Science.

3. What sport are you playing at the collegiate level?

Football.

4. What are you looking forward to most playing sports in college?

I’m looking forward to being able to continue my athletic career in something not a lot of people are able to do.

5. How do you plan on managing your academics and athletics in college?

Luckily Juniata is very nice with the way they schedule it. They have mandated study halls, so they actually made my schedule for me.

6. What made you decide the college you committed to?

Juniata offers a POE system (point of emphasis) which means it builds my class schedule around what I’m majoring in. It also makes it so I don’t have to take pointless electives. They also have the best environment that I want to be a part of, and they offer really good after-college benefits.

7. How did you train to make yourself ready for the collegiate level?

Off seasons are really important I’m in the gym 5 days a week with speed training 3 days a week, and I condition 3 days a week as well. All these combined helped me get into shape to hopefully perform well in college.

8. Has playing sports at the collegiate level always been your goal, or was it a nice surprise?

At first, no, it wasn’t even in my sight, but going into my junior year I realized that I did have a chance at it and could go pretty far in the sport. That motivated me to try and improve and eventually about halfway through my junior year I started to gain interest, and from there I ran with it.

Elle Smith

1. What college are you planning to attend?

I will be attending IUP.

2. What are you majoring in in college?

I am majoring in pre-chiropractic.

3. What sport are you playing at the collegiate level?

Soccer.

4. What are you looking forward to most playing sports in college?

For the most part, I am looking forward to playing the sport I love at a high level of competition. I am also looking forward to meeting new people and being a part of a team.

5. How do you plan on managing your academics and athletics in college?

In order to manage my academics as well as athletics, I will definitely need to learn to spend my time wisely and efficiently. For me, this would be achieved by using a planner to keep track of assignments or important events so that I can make time for everything.

6. What made you decide the college you committed to?

I mainly picked the college I am committed to because I really love the campus. I also had the chance to meet the soccer coach, who is a wonderful person I can’t wait to be coached by.

7. How did you train to make yourself ready for the collegiate level?

In order to prepare myself for the collegiate level, I had to raise my standards across the board. Strength training has become a major part in my training so that I will be able to compete with women who may be up to four years older than me. As far as running goes, I have to maintain my endurance training as well as speed training, so that I have the fitness to keep up with the quick pace of the game.

8. Has playing sports at the collegiate level always been your goal, or was it a nice surprise?

Ever since I was little, I always wanted to play at the collegiate level. My expectations for myself have varied over the years in terms of what level I wanted to play at, but my overall goal of playing in college remained true.

Evan Davis

1. What college are you planning to attend?

Lycoming.

2. What are you majoring in in college?

Education.

3. What sport are you playing at the collegiate level?

Wrestling D3.

4. What are you looking forward to most playing sports in college?

Competing again.

5. How do you plan on managing your academics and athletics in college?

Having study halls and getting work done.

6. What made you decide the college you committed to?

I’ve been there my whole life for camps, and I know the coach pretty well.

7. How did you train to make yourself ready for the collegiate level?

Focus on the things that ended my season last year and improve them for college.

8. Has playing sports at the collegiate level always been your goal, or was it a nice surprise?

It’s always been my goal.

Beth Struble

1. What college are you planning to attend?

Messiah University.

2. What are you majoring in in college?

Music Education.

3. What sport are you playing at the collegiate level?

Swimming.

4. What are you looking forward to most playing sports in college?

Getting to continue the sport I love at a higher level. Also, getting to meet new people and compete with different people.

5. How do you plan on managing your academics and athletics in college?

I plan on finishing work early if I am able to. Also making sure I balance everything and not put sports ahead of school.

6. What made you decide the college you committed to?

I really wanted to continue swimming. Swimming has been my entire life and I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.

7. How did you train to make yourself ready for the collegiate level?

I started putting more work in in the pool.  More focus on technique and power that would make me better. Making sure my technique is perfect before I get to college training. Also, outside of the pool, I plan on lifting and really focusing on the things I can do outside of the pool. Focusing on what I eat and properly recovering my body.

8. Has playing sports at the collegiate level always been your goal, or was it a nice surprise?

To me it was a nice surprise. Going into high school I was not the best swimmer so to be able to continue swimming at the collegiate level is really nice surprise. Lots of hard work to get to this moment but just a really great surprise.

Eric Myers

1. What college are you planning to attend?

Lycoming College.

2. What are you majoring in in college?

Mathematics Education and Special Education.

3. What sport are you playing at the collegiate level?

Football.

4. What are you looking forward to most playing sports in college?

Just the experience and the new scenery.

5. How do you plan on managing your academics and athletics in college?

Practice hard, and during my study periods and my free time, study.

6. What made you decide the college you committed to?

The people, the coaches, the scenery of the campus, it’s an all-around beautiful and great college campus.

7. How did you train to make yourself ready for the collegiate level?

I focused on my craft, not others. In the weight room I was selfish and had goals I had to meet by this point, and I made it harsh, other than that just wanting to prove all the doubters wrong.

8. Has playing sports at the collegiate level always been your goal, or was it a nice surprise?

It was a goal of mine. I’m the first collegiate athlete in the family. My father could’ve kicked for Penn State, but he entered the work force directly out of high school and my brother was going to play college baseball, but he deferred the opportunity to pursue his degree.

Good luck to these seniors moving forward into the collegiate level, and all the others that were not mentioned!