Fast learner: GM’s Foster signs with UNI after just four years of competing in track and field
Published 8:15 am Tuesday, November 21, 2023
- Lexy Foster of Grand Meadow signed her national letter-of-intent to compete in track and field at Division I University of Northern Iowa in GM Monday. Seated next to Foster are GMLOKS track and field head coach Aaron Thauwald, left, and her mother Gina. The GM girls basketball team also was on hand to support Foster. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
GRAND MEADOW – It turns out, quitting softball was the choice that sculpted the future of Grand Meadow senior Lexy Foster.
Foster, who gave up softball to try track and field in her freshman year, signed her national letter-of-intent to compete with Division I University of Northern Iowa in track and field on Monday.
Foster will compete as a thrower for the Panthers.
Grand Meadow’s Lexy Foster signs her national letter-of-intent to compete in track and field at the Univeristy of Northern Iowa. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“UNI is a really good fit for me. I really love the athletes and the coaches. This is great,” Foster said. “I haven’t been doing this that long, but my hard work has paid off.”
Foster was a quick study in throwing as she has competed in two Class A state track and field meets for GMLOKS. Last year, she took third in shot put with a distance of 40 feet, .25 inches and she placed 12th in discus with a distance of 107 feet, 6-inches.
“I’ve learned so much about track. Coach (Aaron) Thauwald and coach (Rebecca) Young are really great coaches and they’ve taught me so much, and I still have a lot to learn,” Foster said. “Shot put was good the first time, but discus was rough. I kept doing it, it got better. A lot of the footwork in discus is backwards from basketball, but I figured it out.”
Foster was a standout volleyball player for the Superlarks this fall and she’ll be one of the top scorers on the GM girls basketball team this winter. She’s expecting to make some big progress in throwing once she starts focusing exclusively in track and field in college.
Despite drawing DI interest, it wasn’t the easiest choice for Foster to give up basketball, which was her first love.
“Up until a year ago, I really wanted to play basketball in college,” Foster said. “It was a really tough decision and I thought about doing both, but I ultimately settled on just doing track. I just wanted to really focus on one sport (in college) so I could really reach my potential.”
With the decision out of the way, Foster can now enjoy her senior year as she prepares for her final basketball and track and field seasons with the Superlarks.
“It’s a relief. There’s no more pressure as to where I was going,” she said.
UNI is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
