School: Greencastle-Antrim
Interested Schools: UNC, NC State, Georgetown, Washington and Stanford
Why Their Commitment Matters: Parks made herself one of the best high school milers in history this past season with her US No. 1 effort in the 1,600m. The senior ran the fourth fastest 1,600m ever to secure a PIAA T&F State Championship. She was just as dominant indoor with a nation-leading performance in the mile to win the New Balance Nationals Indoor title. Parks can also hold her own in the 800m with sub-2:10 performances, both indoor and outdoor.
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PRs: 4:21.34 - 1,500m in., 2:09.87 - 800m in, 2:09.56 -800m, 4:37.07 - 1,600m, 4:42.37 - Mile
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North Carolina State University has already secured one of the best recruiting classes this year in Pan-American U20 Champion Marlee Starliper; NXN All-American Claire Walters; three-time Florida state champion Alyssa Hendrix and two-time NXN All-American Jenna Schulz. The women of the Wolfpack are currently ranked No. 6 on the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll heading into their conference championships.
Another potential standout amongst Parks' top five is the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels are under new leadership with the recent hiring of Coach Chris Miltenberg, who spent the last seven seasons building and sustaining distance success at Stanford--which so happens to be one of Parks' other choices. During his final season with Stanford, he led the men's and women's teams to fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. At Stanford he coached NCAA 5,000m champions Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty, and previously, 2016 Olympian Emily Infeld during his time at Georgetown.