Naomi Harding '19 Recruiting Profile

    While still only in high school I feel I have learned many important life skills and lessons which will help me excel in college, both as an athlete and as a student. After attending a very respected charter school in Vail, Colorado (Eagle County Charter Academy) starting in kindergarten I moved to the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy (VSSA) in order to pursue my dream of being an Olympic downhill (alpine) ski racer. This rigorous course load included being a year-round student-athlete. A typical day would involve skiing in the morning followed by a full school course load and then evening dry land training before homework that night. This intense schedule taught me many important time management and organizational skills. In addition, I was fortunate enough to be competing at the highest possible level for an alpine athlete which involved extensive travel not only around the United States, but also Canada, Europe, and South America. Being proactive with my school workload was extremely important and required me to learn to be self-motivated in order not to fall behind in my studies. 

    I am very blessed to be part of an amazing driven and successful family. My sister, who is in the same grade, is also a competitive runner and teammate who will compete in college. My father is a highly respected dentist and dental educator and my mother is the librarian at the charter school I mentioned earlier. We are all avid athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. Our family vacations, typically consist of lots of exercise yet we find it fun! This love for hard work and determination serves as the foundation for who I am as both a person and as a student-athlete. 

    I am of course extremely focused on both my athletics and my education. For this reason, I made the difficult decision following my sophomore year at VSSA to discontinue my skiing career and focus solely on running. I had been running and competing both years of high school for Battle Mountain High School (BMHS) since VSSA did not offer cross country or track. The XC/Track program at BMHS has a storied tradition under Coach Rob Parish in running having won multiple state championships and sending many student-athletes on to college. I therefore, switched schools and will graduate with the class of 2019 from BMHS. I feel strongly that this decision provides me the best opportunity for both my education and athletics.

 Finally, running and, sports in general, has taught me many valuable lessons as I have had to overcome some set backs and injuries over the years of competing in the dangerous sport of alpine ski racing and pounding your body takes in running sports. I have been fortunate to have had success in my sports but coming back from injury requires patience and determination. These life lessons will no doubt carry over into my college days. I feel I'm an excellent teammate and coachable athlete who will be an important asset to a high-level college running program.