Thomas Veerkamp '16 Recruiting Profile

My name is Thomas Veerkamp and I am a Senior at Lebanon Senior High School in Indiana.  I am the top runner on our varsity cross country and varsity distance track teams.  To date I have received four varsity letters in cross country, three varsity letters in track, and two varsity letters in diving. I have also received three Most Valuable Runner Awards in cross country and six scholar athlete awards. My cross country PR is 16:47.08.  I am low mileage (25-30 miles per week), running good times, and have a lot of potential for improvement in college.  I will not disappoint my college coaches and teammates. 

I have received First Team All-Conference, Second Team All-Conference, and two Regional Qualifier awards for cross country.  My cross country PR improved from 18:56 sophomore year to 17:11 in my junior year to 16:47 my Senior year.  This year I placed in the Top 6 in all of our regular season meets except 2 when I was sick and during the 2014 XC season I placed in the Top 10 in all of our regular season cross country meets.  The highlight to my senior year was setting the course record at the Sheridan Invitational this year along with winning the championship.  In the Indiana State Tournament our schools are not broken down by class, all runners run together regardless of school size.  Our school is small but we are located in an area where we are scheduled to run our Sectional and Regional against the State's top 6 ranked schools.  At Sectionals this year I placed in the Top 10 individuals and qualified to move in to Regionals, gaining my place as only the second person in our school history to ever qualify to move on to Regional in the State Tournament and the first person to qualify twice.

My college education goal is to earn a Degree in Engineering.  I have enrolled in classes that will best fit these goals, completing Intro to Engineering for 3 college credits and enrolled in Principles of Engineering currently for another 3 college credits.   I took the ACT on September 12, 2015 receiving a score of 25. My mother was the first one in our family's history to graduate from college, graduating Valedictorian at Collins College, she then attended IUPUI graduating with high honors.  My brother is a decorated Army Sergeant MP who has served twice in Afghanistan and my grandfather was a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and a WWII Veteran.

It is my dream to compete in running at the college level.  I really enjoy running and training, and am very confident that I will reach my high school, college, and lifetime goals.  I am looking for a college where the team is a family and the coaches are involved in their athlete's goals.  After dropping significant time the last 2 years I know that I have a lot of potential for the future when I am with a team running more miles and have an involved coach.  I believe that with proper training and good competition I will exceed all expectations.  Thank you for reading my profile and good luck on your season!

Tommy Veerkamp