Maria Wood '22 Recruiting Profile

COMMITTED 11/20/21 SIGNED 11/24/21- University of Massachusetts Amherst

Thank you to all of the coaches who have recruited me and helped me throughout this amazing process! Go Minutemen!

NOTE: 55m and 300m PRs are hand-timed and before conversion of +0.24     

Hi! My name's Maria Wood, and I LOVE to sprint. Here's a few things about me.

   I just want to be the best I can be, while also having fun with what I do.  As cliché as it sounds, sports and school are my top priorities. That being said, it's my job to focus on my grades first. I am a High Honors student in all Level 1 classes, and I went even further by taking 4 AP classes as a  junior and 3 as a senior. I love getting involved in everything I can, without overscheduling myself. By joining clubs and sports, I get to meet so many different people, and have some incredible experiences.  As for track and field, my career started in my middle school "Running Club" in 7th grade. I realized I was fast when I played tag or raced my friends as a kid, so I figured track and field was worth a shot. Nowadays, whenever I race...everything goes silent.  It's just me and the sprint in front of me, nothing else.  That could get me into the school of my dreams...who knew? 

     My events include the 100m, 200m, 400m, 55m, 300m, 4x100m, 4x200m, and 4x400m relays, long jump and triple jump. So far, I have broken the school records for all the above sprinting events except the 400 and the 4x400. I've been working on my versatility between events so I can bring as much skill to a team as possible. In terms of my mentality, I work especially well with coaches who utilize constructive criticism and are open minded. I am not afraid to try a new approach to something, like a race strategy or hear what I did wrong/what I could've done better. By working under those conditions in high school so far, I have qualified for the last three MIAA Divisional state meets and found success at all of them. Recently, after losing my sophomore outdoor season, I came back twice as strong junior year and took the champion title at our divisional meet in the 100m and 200m. One moment that stands out to me was my placing 6th overall in the 100m dash as a freshman in DIV. I was the only freshman and underclassman, which was both slightly intimidating and very exciting. Racing against juniors and seniors gave me a boost of confidence, and I thought, "I can do this". 

 Track has really been a life-changer for me! I've met so many people and learned that it doesn't take one night to become what you want to be in the end. I know that sometimes progress is slow, but that makes a PR so much sweeter. I am very competitive and am open to join any division as long as the team is the right fit, of course. I hope to go to college to run track and possibly make a career of sports broadcasting, sports marketing/public relations, or sport psychology.