Miami Trace High School senior had a milestone day in her young life Thursday when she signed a letter of intent to attend Bowling Green State University.
Seyfang, a three-time State qualifier, (twice outdoors and once indoors) placed sixth at State back in June in the shot put and discus throw events.
On Thursday, her family, a score or more of friends and coaches, as well as some school administrators, joined Seyfang in the Miami Trace library to witness the event.
“We couldn’t be more happy and more excited for Katie,” Miami Trace track and field head coach Brent Noes said. “To be able to continue to compete at the next level, that’s been her goal and her dream. She’s excited.
“We’re happy for Katie and her family,” Noes said. “She’s put a lot of hard work and dedication into this. She’s been working on this year ‘round for the last couple of years. All of her hard work has really paid off. We couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Seyfang’s journey to Bowling Green began with an email she received in the spring of this year.
“I originally wasn’t going to look at it,” Seyfang said. “But, I went ahead and looked at it. It was an invitation to a junior day. I went ahead and went. It was actually my first college visit and I was really nervous.
“I got to talk with a couple of people and see everything,” Seyfang said. “It turned out to be a really good day. I decided to keep my options open. We kind of built the relationship from there.
“I ended up going for an official visit (to Bowling Green) in September,” Seyfang said. “I just knew from there that I wanted to go there. It was everything I wanted. The other girls were really nice. It’s kind of a small town. I was just like, ‘this is where I want to be.’
“I was talking with several schools at the time,” Seyfang said. “But, after that visit, I was kind of like, ‘okay, I’m ready.’ I verbally committed the day after.”
Seyfang is going to study exercise science.
“When I went on my official visit, I put down that my major was going to be exercise science,” Seyfang said. “When I went for the junior day, which was my first visit, I put that my major was going to be in chemistry. I was taking chemistry at the time and I just loved it.
“At the start of school, I realized I wanted to stay in my sport,” Seyfang said. “Anyway that I can help people through my sport, through lifting and exercising, I decided exercise science was something I wanted to pursue. When I went on my official visit, I talked to the head of exercise science, and she was like the greatest person ever. She was super-nice. She showed me all the equipment and all the labs and I just loved it.”
Seyfang began her thank-yous by thanking God.
“Definitely God for keeping me on this path and giving me these abilities,” Seyfang said. “Giving me the people to help me.
“I want to thank my family because, through the years, with everything I’ve wanted to do, any sport that I wanted to play, they were so behind me,” Seyfang said. “That just shows the love my parents have for me. When I played basketball, or softball, or soccer, or volleyball, anything that I did, they always made sure I had anything that I needed to help me be the best.
“Through the hard times, through the times that I didn’t know if track was something I wanted to do later on, they would just reassure me that everything’s going to be okay,” Seyfang said.
“I want to thank my teachers for helping me academically,” Seyfang said. “Through getting extra help, or just helping me to understand everything and getting me to pass school.
“I want to thank Coach Noes and Coach (Bill) Beatty and Coach (Jeff) Bennett,” Seyfang said.
Seyfang said that a few of her favorite teachers include Brent Noes, Raquel Evans (Spanish teacher) and Belinda Jenks (English teacher, recently retired).
“I want to thank all of my teammates and friends,” Seyfang said. “People who are in my classes; people who inspire me, not only academically, but just being there and talking to me and having friendships.”
What about the amount of time and effort required of a Division I college athlete?
“I know I’ll have to work a lot harder in college, but that excites me,” Seyfang said. “Looking at where I am now, I’ve worked really hard to get here. I’m just super-excited to work harder and hopefully have a great outcome.”
