Payton Pingel '26 Recruiting Profile

I have been involved in competitive sports since early elementary. I like working with a team towards a shared goal carrying out a plan and succeeding. Previously, I have played AAA travel baseball and was a competitive freestyle downhill skier, these have taught me to deal with pressure at a high level, the importance of putting in the hard work and determination leads to positive results. At a young age, I qualified for the freestyle skiing USASA National Championships in Colorado back-to-back seasons (2020, 2021). Currently I participate in High School Varsity Football, Track and Field.  Last year, as a sophomore I ran the 100- and 200-meter dash, participated in the 4x100 meter and 4x 200-meter relay teams as the top sprinter on the Varsity team. In track, I like pushing myself on an individual level for my personal records while also being part of team. 

In the off season, I work on improving my speed and agility to better my performance for these sports. In football, I understand that each player is an important part of the team. I feel my strength is my vision and speed to break through tackles while keeping the chains moving. My sophomore season I was one of three who made varsity, the only one on offense and I also played on special teams. This is a large Division 1 High School team of 50 plus players on Varsity. With the exposure I had as a sophomore, and the hard work I put in that off season, rewarded me my junior year as the starting running back on the team as well as starting KO & PR.

Junior season was grind as our team finished second in the conference.  I was privileged with the opportunity to play alongside some amazing seniors as well as some of my classmates.  I was honored to receive All Conference recognition in the Big Rivers as the conference is very competitive which is filled with great players.  I'm excited to get to work and see what my senior season will bring.  Next year's goal is to win the conference and go deep into the playoffs.  

In my time outside school sports, I am an avid outdoorsman who spends my free time fishing, hunting, golfing, enjoying water sports and freestyle downhill skiing. I also work with a personal trainer at Training Haus in Hudson to continue to improve on my speed, agility and strength training. In addition to that I weight lift 6 days a week and focus on my nutrition. I look up to Christian McCaffrey in the NFL as a great role model because he worked his way up to be in the NFL and is currently one of the best running backs in the league. I feel that I have a similar skill set with my speed, tackle breaking ability, and good hands. My goal is to have a similar path, get a great education from a top University and have success at a high level.  

*I'm open to playing on either side of the ball including special teams wherever I can be the biggest impact player at the next level.