Umatilla High School senior Jennifer Jenkins has made the decision to commit to Stetson University.

Jennifer Jenkins  verbally committed to run for Stetson University Saturday evening. She put out a Tweet to highlight her accomplishment.

Jennifer has run cross country and track for Umatilla during the course of her high school career, competing at the cross country state meet her sophomore and junior year. Unfortunately, she just missed out this year after finishing 16th at her regional meet.

Boasting a personal-best of 20:34, which she ran as a junior, Jennifer looks to continue her quest of getting back down to where she was last year, as well as knocking down her time from there. She looks to keep training and run local 5K and 10K races to improve her time while increasing her mileage in preparation for the outdoor season in the spring.

A lot of seniors say that the fact that they just took a huge step in their life takes a little while to sink in. Jennifer is a little more antsy, though. When asked how she felt about her commitment and getting ready to go to college next year, she replied, “Honestly, I’m so ready for it!”

Understandably so. Jennifer had been eyeing Stetson as her future home since she was in the sixth grade, and it was only a matter of time before she finally moved in (well, she still has some time). However, she did take a look at schools such as Florida Gulf Coast University, the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and Rollins College.

Even then, Stetson had her heart. Ultimately, she’s ready to be part of a team. A real team. Not by any fault of her own, but with the running programs at her school, not the best, Jennifer has missed out on a lot of crucial coaching needed for any athlete, not to mention that she was the only runner to advance to the state meet during her time there. Stetson head coach Bryan Harmon, expressed his interest in her and offered her the opportunity to fit into the program.

“I haven’t had the team experience,” she said. “I’ve always dreamed of being on a team one day and I am so excited to be so close to having that!”

Looking back, despite bumps in the road along the way, Jennifer says that it’s been an honor to be where she is. It hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows, but she plans to use the experiences during her athletic career to make her even stronger, especially as she looks ahead to the 2017 outdoor season. She says that she has a lot of room for improvement, but she’s ready to get to work.

Jennifer has personal-bests of 5:35 in the 1600 and 11:59 in the 3200. Last season, she was two close spots away from punching her ticket to the state meet in the 1600. In the 3200, she finished seventh. Aspirations are high for the senior as a trip to IMG Academy would be the perfect way to end senior year.

Jennifer says that she’s most looking forward to being around of group of athletes and coaches who share the same dedication and love for the sport as she does, along with the entire college experience. For Jennifer Jenkins, committing to Stetson means that she’s finally going home.