Cross Country Season on Flotrack 2013

Sarah Baxter commits to Oregon

Sarah Baxter commits to Oregon

Nov 19, 2013 by Christopher Chavez
Sarah Baxter commits to Oregon

Just days after Mary Cain announced she will run professionally through her college years, another high school phenom announced her college decision on Monday night. Simi Valley senior Sarah Baxter has decided to attend the University of Oregon in the fall of 2014. 

Baxter has two Nike Cross-Country National championship titles to her name and is currently the top ranked senior on the Saucony Elite 50 list, which ranks the top 25 male and female individuals in high school. 

Baxter made her decision on Friday, but held off on the announcement to inform other schools that showed interest in her. Schools like Colorado and Washington were also rumored to be in the recruiting mix, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

“To be around such big names in the running community was amazing,” Baxter told the Daily News. ““Having the opportunity to go to all of these schools was a great experience. It gave me a lot of things to consider.”

The 2012 Gatorade National Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year remains undefeated in her cross-country racing career. In October, Baxter set the senior class record at the Mt. SAC cross-country course to go along with her two other class titles. 

She will be racing there again as she looks to extend her Southern Sectional title to four  at the Division II final. Led by Baxter, Simi Valley has been among the top ranked girl’s teams in the country all year. 

The future is looking bright for the Oregon Ducks’ women’s distance program. In addition to Baxter coming in next fall, fellow California star Nikki Hiltz is currently a freshman, but has yet to compete due to injury. This fall, Mary Cain also took an official visit to Oregon.

Chris Chavez is a staff writer for Flotrack and a journalism major at Marquette University. He once beat Joey Fatone of NSYNC in a half-marathon. Feel free to to reach him with any questions, comments, or feedback on Twitter or by email.