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There are 8 million high school student athletes in the United States. Of those, only 460,000 athletes will compete at college – that’s only 17%! Home Page spoke to two Wellsboro Alumni who beat the odds on the first edition of Making the Cut, Regan Rogers and Jordan Jackson. Rogers is a 2010 graduate who participated in the high jump in track during high school and college. She attended Air Force Academy after graduation and had career highs of 5’8 (indoor) and 5’6.5 (outdoor). Rogers graduated in 2014.

Jackson is a 2013 graduate who participated in Cross-Country and Track in high school and currently runs for Bucknell University.

The NCAA website states that the overall percentage of high school student male athlete who go on to participate in collegiate cross-country and track is 5.6% and 4.7% respectively. When you factor Division I athletics, that number slims down to 1.9% for both sports. Only 5.8% of female track athletes play at the collegiate level, with 2.7% playing in Division I.

Both Rogers and Jackson were selected as top athletes in their classes. Both student athletes dedicated long hours to practicing and learning. When asked what advice they could offer prospective students, Jackson stated “make sure you are truly dedicated.” Rogers commented, “Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.”

These two not only spend their time training, but are also highly focused in the classroom, as both were valedictorian of their class. Following today’s feature interview, Drew Patrick spoke with them about how important the “student” is in “student athlete.”

“Academics were extremely important for getting into such a highly competitive program and for staying eligible to compete,” Rogers stated, “It also goes the other way, being an athlete was crucial to my success as a student. Sports kept me disciplined and forced me to focus on the work I needed to get done in school.” Jackson echoed that statement, adding, “Academics are always my top priority. Athletics have provided me with the opportunity to obtain one of the best educations available. Time management has helped me succeed with both at the same time. My advice would be to use athletics to get the best education possible and maybe even get a free education.”