Marius Garcia: University of Pennsylvania
Years of dedication, pressure from many and long hours in the gym have finally paid off for senior Marius Garcia as he has committed to further his academic and athletic career at the University of Pennsylvania.
During his junior year, Garcia said he won his first wrestling state championship and placed second as a senior. He talked with coaches across the country, but UPenn was the one that stuck with him, he explained.
“I’ve been talking to UPenn since August, and their coaches have shown a lot of interest in me, making it very hard for me to say no to them,” he added.
Garcia explained he always had the goal of wrestling at the collegiate level, but it still took a lot of time to decide if it was the best idea for him.
“Wrestling has been one of, if not the biggest part of my life, so I always knew I wanted to keep wrestling, but with any sport, it has its ups and downs,” he explained.
Since Garcia will be going to an Ivy League school, the recruiting process is different than how most other schools recruit and allows the players to start their collegiate career in wrestling a year later, he said.
“UPenn is different from most schools in the way that they have a greyshirt year,” he explained. “Similar to a redshirt year, it allows me to take a year off next year and still practice with the team, but then the year after that will be my first year to be able to compete.”
This greyshirt year for Garcia is similar to a gap year except he will be practicing with the team, he added.
Garcia explained his advice for future athletes that wish to pursue their sport in college: success is determined by how much effort they are willing to put in to get to the next level.
“Only continue your sport in college if you really love it, because if not, you won’t succeed,” he said.
Millie Evans: Pennsylvania State University
After overcoming physical challenges which once cast doubt on her athletic future, senior Millie Evans has committed to swim at The Pennsylvania State University.
Evans said her recruitment process started June 15 of last year. This process included going on official visits, having interviews with coaches and researching different schools, she explained.
“I think during the biggest parts of recruitment I was talking to like 30 different coaches a week,” Evans said.
She went on four official visits, two out of the four being Rutgers University and Penn State, she added. Evans committed to Penn State during her junior year and is extremely content with her decision, she explained.
However, Evans said not long after her commitment, she tore her ACL, which marked the beginning of a difficult journey full of numerous challenges.
“ACL injuries are not common in swimming, and lots of teams will drop athletes with injuries because it is really hard to manage,” she added.
Evans explained she had to work super hard during training to gain back her times, and unfortunately, she is unable to train with the team this summer. Despite her setbacks, the coaches were considerate of her situation and were willing to still offer her a spot on the team, she said.
“I was lucky enough Penn State was super understanding, and it was at the right time where I should be fully recovered by my freshman season,” Evans added.
As a child, Evans participated in many sports, but ever since she entered high school, she knew swimming was something she wanted to continue in college, Evans said. She’s grateful she continued to pursue the sport she loves the most, she added.
“There are opportunities out there you won’t know about until you reach out and call,” Evans said.
Mae Baumann: University of Colorado Boulder
Senior Mae Baumann has spent the majority of her life dancing at Pinnell Dance Center, where she has learned the value of sisterhood within a dance studio.
This sense of community became extremely important to her when looking at college teams, she explained.
The University of Colorado Boulder dance team stood out in this aspect, which made her feel effortlessly familiar around the coaches and ultimately resulted in her decision to commit there, she said.
“I come from a tight knit studio that feels like family and was searching for something similar to that,” Baumann added.
After travelling to college dance combines and clinics around the country, she explained it became difficult to remain patient with the process and continue to train while simultaneously focusing on academics.
Baumann said collegiate dance teams are not approved by the NCAA, which forces every dancer to be academically accepted into a university first before being considered for their team.
“I knew I needed to focus on the school itself and ensuring it was the right fit for me before the dance team,” she added. “It was definitely stressful at times.”
It was also important to consider what coaches were specifically looking for in their recruits, she said. Baumann explained she initially toured CU Boulder because her sister is a student there, but she then began attending their dance clinics and fell in love with the school.
She said she shouldn’t have put so much pressure on herself during the process, because it all worked out the way it was supposed to.
“I knew after touring the school and going to my first clinic that I felt at home in Boulder,” she added.
