Noah Wheeling '20 Recruiting Profile

      Running found me my 6th grade year of middle school in the small town of Abingdon, Virginia.  After a couple of seasons,  distance running became my passion.  Self-motivation, discipline and being a team player are the attributes that drew me to the sport.  I was fortunate to be a contributing member of the Abingdon varsity cross country team my 9th and 10th grade years.   Our team placed 2nd in the Virginia State Cross Country Championships both years.  I also found success in the 2018 Virginia State Indoor track Championship with a 3rd place finish in the 3200.

      My family and I relocated to Fort Collins, CO in the summer of 2018.  Unfortunately,  at the beginning of cross country season my Junior year, I tore a muscle in my foot. I had to stop running for a few months to let it heal; however, my physical therapist, who works with professional runners,  was able to isolate and evaluate how I got injured. The knowledge and expertise gained from this injury has elevated me as an athlete. As spring track season approached, I was rear-ended in a motor vehicle collision.  I had to dig deep and find the inner strength to keep moving forward from another physical setback.  Thankfully, I am now back to running and competing again with my high school team.  It is such a joy to have a great group of teammates to compete with and I hope to continue to build on my running base and achieve new personal bests as well as team success.

     The silver lining to my injury is that it sparked my interest in Sports Medicine, Kinesiology and Physical Therapy. I know how important it is to get athletes back to doing what they love. I am a dedicated student and work hard to achieve my goals. I know firsthand how difficult it is to be injured and not able to run or compete in a sport.  I hope to run cross country and distance track in college while pursuing a career in Sports Medicine/ Physical therapy.