Back in October, Shanna Sparks was thinking Ivy League in regard to her college plans. Thursday morning, the Carson High School senior was thinking Rocky Mountains when she signed a national-letter-of-intent to run cross country and track for the University of Colorado.
Sparks wore a Colorado sweatshirt as she signed the letter in front of Carson High administrators, coach Todd Ackerman and her mother, Penny Sparks. Also present was Shanna's boyfriend, George Pincock, a standout sprinter who has committed to Colorado as a recruited walkon.
Sparks has earned three state championships and ranks among the top distance runners ever at Carson High, so the signing with a Division I program comes as no real surprise. During the recruiting process, she officially visited Seattle Pacific, Columbia University, the University of Washington and Colorado. She was also contacted by such schools as Duke, Brown, Notre Dame; Northern Arizona and Yale.
If anyone had asked about her decision three months ago, however, Sparks wasn't as excited about her recruiting trip to Boulder, Colo., as she was about Columbia in New York City.
"I never thought about Colorado until they called Mr. Ackerman (in November)," said Sparks, who made her visit to Colorado in February. "I wanted to go to Columbia. It's an Ivy League school and all, but once I got to Boulder, that totally changed my perspective. I knew right then where I wanted to go.
"It was so awesome. Boulder is a really neat college town and I love the campus, but what really sold me was when I started talking to Mark (Wetmore, Colorado coach). I had some questions to ask him and he gave all the right answers as far as showing he cares for all his athletes. He's awesome."
Pincock did not sign on Thursday, but he has made a decision to walk on at Colorado after also considering Oregon and Columbia. Pincock and Sparks are both academic standouts who carry grade point averages of better than 3.8.
"I really liked Eugene and the coach, but I think I fit in better at Colorado," said Pincock, who holds school records in the 200 meters (21.79) and 400 (49.02) at Carson. "I won't have any pressure on me. I just want to try and make the best of my opportunity."
At last year's state meet, Pincock placed second in the 400 and ran on a 4x400 relay team that placed second in a school record time of 3:19.74.
Sparks was a state champion in the 1,600 meters her freshman year, followed by state cross country and track 3,200 titles her sophomore year. She is also a five-time USATF Junior Olympic cross country age group All-American, dating back to her middle school days. Sparks has posted personal record times that include 2:17 in the 800 meters, 5:05.76 in the 1,600 and 10:50.33 in the 3,200.
She expects to run even better for the Colorado Buffaloes.
"Mark told me he wants to take me far, but he said the key is going to be patience," Sparks said. "He told me not to go in as a freshman and expect to be able to run with the seniors. Every year, I'll build on my endurance and get stronger."
Wetmore has coached Colorado's men and women to NCAA team cross country championships and coached NCAA individual champions Adam Goucher and Kara Wheeler. Among the current standouts, junior Sara Gorton won the NCAA women's indoor 5,000 meters earlier this year and two weeks at the Mt. SAC Relays ago ran the fourth fastest 5,000 time by a woman in NCAA history (15:24.97).
Sparks had a chance to experience the strength of Colorado's distance program when she was invited out for a 10-mile training run during her visit to Boulder.
"I was an idiot," she said, laughing. "I went out with Sara Gorton and their top runners and I died. Jay (Johnson, distance coach) had to come pick me up."
The fatigue was due in part to a bout with mononucleosis that forced her to lay off from running through December and January. Sparks says she is 100 percent now and showed that with a strong 10:16 effort for 3,000 meters (which roughly equates to 10:56 for the 3,200) at Stanford a month ago.
Sparks ranks among the leaders in both the 1,600 and 3,200 coming into the Northern 4A Regional Championships, which will begin today and be held over the next two weekends at Reno High School. Sparks won the regional 1,600 last year and came back a week later to place second in the state 3,200 behind Reno's Collier Lawrence.
Lawrence and Sparks -- who have not yet opposed each other this year -- will be two runners to watch when the finals in those events are held next Saturday, May 10. Then again, Sparks is no stranger to the limelight, dating back to her age group All-American status before she even got to high school.
"I came into this program with a bang and I won the state 1,600 as a freshman, now I'd like to go out with a bang," Sparks said. "I want to win another state championship. The competition is tough, but if I put my mind to it, I think I can do it."
When she put her mind to it Thursday morning, Sparks admitted her decision to attend Colorado really isn't so surprising after all. A visit to Boulder some eight years ago left an impression which she expressed with her father, Ray.
"When I was 10, we went to visit Sarah Piccolo (former star runner at Carson High and Colorado State) and when we stopped in Boulder, I told my dad, 'I'm going to go here.' And now, here I am going to Colorado and I'm so excited."