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DyeStat Features
Renee Gunning -�
a series on the development of a distance star
Part 4
Gunning for Gunning
Renee's recruiting year and the choice of Villanova
by Don Rich, publisher of DyeStatPA
Renee proudly displays her agreement and Letter of Intent.
Every year, July 1 is the first day that college coaches are actually
permitted to pick up the phone and call the athletes they covet.
July 1, 1999, 9:30 am. Barely enough time to wipe the sleep from her eyes, and the phone is ringing at the Gunning household. It's a college coach. The first call is from the University of North Carolina. And Renee is nervous. Really nervous. That first day, she receives three or four more calls. Brown. Stanford. Harvard. Not too shabby.
She would soon hear from Air Force and West Point. "But I told them I didn't think I was strong enough for that military stuff."
It was the rest of the colleges that really made her nervous. You see,
Renee didn't want to tell any of them that she wasn't interested in
their schools or their programs.� She actually had a list. The sweet 16, so
to speak. And coaches had no idea who was, and who wasn't on the list.
The list was actually the result of a little prodding and a lot of research by Renee.� She went online and into the library to look for schools that had great academics and equally great running programs.
Yet, even though she had her short list, she still wanted to keep her
options somewhat open. She was getting mail by the bushel. Hundreds of letters.
And the phone calls just kept coming. (Coaches are only permitted to call once a
week, but they can e-mail as often as they wish.)
"At first, it was exciting. Then it got to be every single night. And if
I wasn't interested, I was afraid to say so."
Renee says the hardest part about telling a coach she wasn't interested is that virtually every one of them was so nice to her.
"But I learned quickly that if you lead them on even a little bit, then
they'll call every week. You have to tell them. They'll only get mad
later."
She learned what questions to ask coaches about their programs. If it didn't seem like a fit for the running, she'd scratch them off her list.
During the entire process, she never called a coach. But that doesn't
mean that she wasn't tempted. The school she had near the top of her list was a
local Pennsylvania school with a running history as rich as it gets. And even
though she had heard from top programs such as Stanford, Georgetown and North
Carolina State, she had yet to hear from Villanova. They were one of the last to
call.
"I kept telling people that Villanova was one of my top choices. They
all said 'Villanova doesn't have to call you.' But even though they were one of
the last, they did call."
Recruits are permitted as many unofficial visits as they wish, but are
only allowed five official visits to a campus. An official visit is a
48-hour period, with the athlete's expenses paid for by the school. Once
Villanova was on the map, Renee wanted to get the process moving so she could
make her decision as early in the cross country season as possible.
She narrowed her 16 to five. Villanova. Georgetown. NC State, Cornell and Kentucky.� Georgetown has a big time program and is a regular at NCAA's. NC State is an excellent program as well, and will be the collegiate home of best friend Josianne Lauber. What's more, the NC State coach called her every week, and made a very good impression on her.
Cornell met her academic requirements. "Their coach is the nicest guy in the world. But I would have been one of the top runners as a freshman. I was looking at the long term, and I really didn't want the immediate pressure."
Her first three visits were set for Villanova, Georgetown, and NC State.� One every weekend, after her races, of course.
Saturday, October 2, 1999 was the first big meet of the season. The
Steel City Invitational in Coatesville. It's a tough race that attracts
many of the top teams and individuals from across Pennsylvania. Renee won.�
It was off to Villanova, a quiet suburb on Philadelphia's Main Line.
This was the first weekend for official visits at Villanova, and Renee
had some very elite company, including her roommate-to-be, Rebecca
Mitchell� of Illinois, Shalane Flanagan, who will go to� UNC, Mason
Kathy, who is bound for the University of Florida, and Hillary Edmonson, a
Canadian, who will run for Wisconsin.
The first night, Renee joined the group for dinner at a nice Italian
restaurant. "I was sitting at the same table with all my heroes."
(All-Americans Carrie Tollefson and Carmen Douma, and Villanova running legends
and current coaches, Gina Procaccio and Marcus O'Sullivan). Also there were new
freshmen, and former prep stars Liz Awtry and Sheila Klick.
"I stayed with Liz and Sheila. It was an awesome weekend. As we walked around campus, the coaches were showing me all the Villanova awards. I knew all the runners. I think they liked the fact that I was a fan, too."
The official visit was almost over, and on Sunday, Coaches Procaccio and O'Sullivan invited Renee for a private meeting.
"They told me that they saw so much potential in me. They really liked
the fact that I wanted to run after college. And they said that with their
program, by the time I was a senior, I could be one of the top runners in the
nation. And I really liked that. I wouldn't have the
pressure right away, and I would have other good girls to train with.
Then, the offer. At this point, the memory of the meeting is kind of a
blur for Renee.�
"They said something like, 'all you have to bring is your toothbrush. We have a scholarship for you.'� I couldn't believe it. They gave me two weeks to make my decision."
Renee just hung around, taking it all in. It was her dream, and now it
was within reach. While the others left to catch flights home, she was
in shock.��
"My mom and I walked outside and got into our car. We both screamed in excitement. And my mom was crying."
Renee wanted to go right back in and tell them it was a deal. But her
parents had always cautioned her to sleep on important decisions. She did. And
she even restrained herself from calling the next morning. As usual on a Monday
morning, she went off to Pennridge High School.
"I really hadn't told anyone, but at my first period class, the teacher
congratulates me and tells me what a great school Villanova is. During the day,
I overhead other kids talking about it. They even put it on the announcements on
Wednesday and mentioned it at an assembly. I think my mom told someone."
Gina and Marcus didn't have to wait long. Renee called them with the good news when she got home from school.
"I just wanted to make it final. I could finally tell coaches I had a
verbal agreement. It was hard telling other coaches. They would be so nice. I'd
get off the phone almost crying. But after I made the
decision, it was all worth it."
"The Georgetown coach was like "are you sure?" If you ever change your mind, give me a call. A lot of them said that."
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Renee with her first Villanova shirt at her League XC meet, shortly
after everyone learns of her verbal commitment to the Wildcats.
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It took months for the calls to stop, even though she had signed during the early signing period.
The advantages were evident. Renee was one of the first in school to
know where she was going to college. She knew how she was going to pay for it.
And she could finally focus on having a great senior year on the course, on the
track, and in the classroom.
"That's when the confidence really hit. I had always been nervous before races. But then I thought that if Villanova wants me, I must be good. It gave me a great boost going into Indoor Track. I was a totally different runner. Before races, people would congratulate me. It was unbelievable."
What Renee remembers most about the recruiting process are the rules.� She was thankful she had her parents to help her find her way through the maze of regulations, mail, phone calls, and pressure.
At Villanova, she will be joined by one of the five from her visit,
Rebecca Mitchell, of Illinois. The two ran together at Golden West
(Mitchell fell on the third lap), and will be roommates this fall.
(Editor's note: This is particularly advantageous with runners, because
most college freshmen do not turn in to sleep on a Friday night at 9 because
they have a race the next day.) Joining Renee and Rebecca as freshmen will be
Carre Joyce from South Carolina, Tricia Taylor of Delaware, and Claudine
Evangelista, from New Jersey.
Renee is looking forward to a continuation of the family-like team she
has enjoyed at Pennridge.��
"What I noticed at Villanova is they eat together, and that both the
men's and women's teams are really close. I love that."
"It was unbelievable. Everything just came together for me to go to
Villanova. I knew that 's where I was supposed to be."
NEXT: The Summer Between. Preparing to Meet Expectations.
Return to Renee Gunning series index
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