High school athletes are presented with the tough decision, do they continue pursuing their sport in college or not. Some might say another four years is too much considering most college programs demand a lot from their athletes. However, swimmer Mischa Eng ’26,wrestler Wyatt Hepner ’25, and field hockey player Scout Webber ’25 have all made the commitment to another four years of practice and training.
“I researched college programs for education and for swimming, filled out recruit questionnaires, and then sent follow up emails to the coaches,” Eng ’26 said. “The coaches could look at my swimcloud profile with all my times. Some coaches would reach out to me but I did have to reach out first too,”
Eng started her process in the spring of sophomore year, and went in with an open mindset; there weren’t schools that she was set on going to. Over the next year Eng gained a better understanding of which schools were right for her.
“I found out along the way through calls, visits, and emails about which schools would fit me best. I’m looking for a school that I can swim at and that will provide a good education, but I also want time to explore and have fun without those activities taking up all of my time,” Eng ’26 said. “A big factor for me is I want a big school located in a big city.”
The process is different for everyone. For Hepner, the process was pretty standard, but the school he dreamed of going to didn’t end up being the school that was right for him.
“I did well in my competitions freshman and sophomore year to get colleges to look at me,” Hepner said. “After sophomore year I started sending out emails and trying to start a relationship with more d1 coaches. When they started to respond I began to build a relationship with them and visit the schools to see if I would fit in.”
For Hepner, finding a place where he connects and bonds with the team and coaches was really important.
“I have always been a huge Michigan State fan and it has always been a goal of mine to be an athlete there, but the biggest factors that went into my decision were the team and how I fit in, the coaches, the culture, opportunities at the school, and the cost,” Hepner said.
For others, the recruitment process wasn’t as easy, Webber struggled to decide if she wanted to play field hockey in college and what type of school she would want to attend.
“My recruitment process was very hard and tiring,” Webber said. “It took a while because I didn’t know if I wanted to play division 1 or division 3. I started looking at schools after sophomore year but I didn’t know if I would play for sure yet.”
For Webber, she wanted to find a strong competitive program that also had good academics, but finding the right school was not easy.
“I had a school that I really wanted to go to throughout the whole process but it didn’t end up working because I didn’t like the coach,” Webber ’ said. “I used the program SportsRecruit to help with the process and then schools reached out to me and I reached out to schools I was really interested in.”
