Soren Umali '17 Recruiting Profile

From my early years, I always knew I liked running and as I grew older my love for running grew stronger. Throughout my Freshman year I feel I found my true potential to be a top athlete though great coaching. My first high school coach is an Olympic runner for Lithuania and she really helped lead the team to find their potential and being a great role model to all of us by having us have high goals for ourselves. She was also the one who pushed me to rigorously train over the summer and in the time leading up to my Sophomore year season, I was able to beat all my previous records and begin to make a name for myself and qualifying for 3 events at the IHSA State meet. Although not making it to finals it helped continue my growth as an athlete because over the 2015 summer I was the only Illinois athlete to compete in the 100 hurdle semi-finals for USATF Junior Nationals. Coming off this amazing season I was really motivated to make next years the best with new coaching all around. In the end it wasn't the best Junior year, but everything continues to motivate me to become a better athlete, student, and person. With my senior year approaching I plan on taking classes that help lead me to finding a major for college and most importantly finding the college that is the right fit for me academically and athletically.