Karlye Cygan '14 Recruiting Profile

Hello and thank you for looking at my profile.  The first thing I want you to know about me is that I absolutely love track and field, especially pole vaulting.  I have my school record and a few meet records along with being the City Champion, Conference Champion and District Champion in the pole vault.  I have placed third at State in the pole vault and my PR is 11’6.” I am fast, strong, and I am interested in competing in other track and field events.

The second thing I want you to know about me is that I am a smart, funny, and hardworking athlete.  I want you to talk to my coaches, because they will tell you I bring a positive attitude to the field and a smile to their faces.  I love having teammates and I enjoy supporting my fellow athletes and helping them to be their best.  My coaches will also tell you I am very “coachable,” and that I can make and incorporate adjustments easily.

I have been competing in track for only two seasons now.  Prior to that as a freshman, I was a goalie on our varsity soccer team which place fifth at our State Tournament.  I had a chance to participate in a summer pole vaulting program and I haven’t regretted switching from soccer to track since.

I also have played three seasons as a pitcher and outfielder for my varsity softball team.  My sophomore year we were the Softball State Champion Runner-Up.  I have lettered in all three sports, been named to all-city and all-state teams, and have received Academic All-City, Academic All Conference, Academic All-State and Academic All-American in my sports for all three years.

But I like Pole Vaulting best.

And I am interested in learning other track and field events, such as sprints, hurdles and javelin.   Javelin is not recognized as a high school event in Nebraska, but many coaches have told me that I will be good at it with the overhand throwing and pitching strength  I have developed from softball.  I figure if I can learn the arm movements and releases to make a softball drop, rise, curve, screw and change speeds, I should be able to quickly learn how to throw the javelin.  I am going to try a number of other track events this summer.  I would really like to be a multi-event athlete, and possibly a heptathlete, but pole vaulting will always be my first priority..

In the off -season I stay in condition by attending a number of track camps and gym work-outs, but also by being a Level 5 competitive cheerleader.  As a competitive cheerleader, I am constantly conditioning my arms, legs and core so I can jump high and throw standing back- tucks, layouts and fulls along with holding other girls over my head.  I have been captain of our team for several years, and this past year, we qualified for the Worlds Competition at the ESPN Center at Disney World.  If you are not familiar with the amount of athleticism that goes into being a competitive cheerleader, you can watch our Worlds Competition on ESPN on Sunday mornings and see for yourself.

Along with being a strong, multi –sport athlete, I am also a good student.  I bring to my school work the same commitment and intensity I show on the field.  I don’t consider myself to be the most intellectual student at my high school, but I have a lot of common sense.  I get my good grades (3.9 Cumulative GPA) and continued acceptance into advanced classes by working hard and managing my time well.  My strongest subjects are science and math, and although I have not completely decided what I want to be after college, I am leaning toward a career in medicine or engineering. 

I am committed to competing in track and field at the collegiate level and would appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and learn about your school and team.

Thank you for reading this!  I hope to hear from you!

-Karlye.