Donson Cook-Gallardo '14 Recruiting Profile

My name is Donson "Jerry" Cook, and I am both a student and an athlete.

I have averaged straights A's all through my high-school career. I challenge myself at school by taking hard classes, and I have a determined academic goal: to study bio-medics. I am interested in what is possible when science and technology are combined into a field of engineering.

I am also an athlete. I started running track late my sophomore year and, since then, have two seasons under my belt where I've accomplished great running feats; my most notable one being at the Track and Field 4A State Championships this year (2013), when I took my sprint medley team from 5th to 1st place in the 800 split with a time of 1:53. The finishing time was 3:32.34, and we were 0.08 seconds away from setting a state record. Although my open 800 time is not as fast (1:57), I believe I can run this just as easily. I peaked in the sprint medley instead of the open 800, and I would always run the 800 after the medley. I am also a miler, dropping around 20 seconds each year of my track season to finally bring it down to 4:24; however, I believe there is still a lot of untapped potential within me, and I plan to significantly drop all my times in my senior year of track. I have one year of Cross Country under my belt with a 5K P.R. of 16:07. 

For some personal information, I was born in the Central-American country of Panama, where I lived for seven years. I am half-Hispanic and am bilingual and am also interested in the study of language and music. Some of my personal interests are the piano, cinematography, and math and science. I am a devoted volunteer at my local hospital, with over 150 hours logged, and am a member of our local Fencing (3 years) and Rowing (2 years) clubs.  

In short, I am determined to run competitively in college, while  also succeeding academically.