Beaver Dam has another Division 1 athlete in its midst.
A year after four athletes signed Division 1 scholarships, BD senior Brenna Calder has committed to Indiana University to run cross country as well as track and field. She will officially sign with the Hoosiers on National Signing Day on Feb. 5.
“It’s a really good academic school,” Calder said. “The coaching staff is really good and the facilities are great as well.”
Calder’s decision to choose Indiana University was one that came together relatively quickly after a setback threatened to cut short her collegiate running career.
During her junior year of track, she suffered a stress fracture at the indoor state meet that kept her out for much of the season. She returned in time to help the 3,200-meter relay team win the conference championship and reach the state meet.
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Although she finished with a flurry, the lost regular season didn’t allow her to get on the radar of many Division 1 programs.
“Because she was injured, we knew we had to be more aggressive about getting her name out to coaches,” BD cross country coach Hans Gochenaur said. “Out of the eight seasons she has, the injury her junior year was the worst possible time in terms of recruiting.”
So they began sending out emails to college coaches asking them to just watch her and see what he had to offer.
It didn’t take long to see that Calder was brimming with potential.
Calder can legitimately make a case as the best distance runner in BD history. She earned first team all-Little Ten honors four times, finishing second twice, fourth and fifth in those races. She owns the school’s cross country record (14 minutes, 44 seconds) and broke it on three separate occasions.
Calder also reached the state cross country meet three times and finished ninth this past November in the Division 1 race, narrowly missing her own school mark by one second. She has also appeared at the state track meet twice in relays.
“I definitely had to sell myself as an athlete,” Calder said. “My first split in the 3,200 relay at state (2:14), they saw I could develop into an athlete (at the next level).”
Track and field times are important — even more so than cross country — due to the more concrete information it contains.
“In cross country, unless you’re on a championship course (state), the course is likely shorter or longer than 4,000 meters,” Gochenaur said. “Courses could also have hills that slow times or ones that increase them.
“You just have less variables in time in track. It’s more black and white in that sense.”
Calder also looked at Nebraska, Wisconsin, Bradley and Minnesota before deciding on Indiana. She wants to study political science and has thought about law school after finishing her undergraduate degree.
“This process has been stressful,” Calder said. “But I’m excited to go from the Little Ten to the Big Ten.”