By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Hayden track and cross country star Tanner Newkirk considered other colleges, but it's fair to say that Kansas was the frontrunner throughout the recruiting process.
Newkirk made his choice official Wednesday afternoon at Hayden, signing a letter of intent with the Jayhawks.
There were several factors that made KU the ideal choice for Newkirk, a four-time Class 4A state cross country medalist and former state champion as well as a two-time state medalist in track.
For one thing, the Newkirk family lives in Lawrence and for another, Tanner's father, Kevin, ran at Kansas after winning multiple state championships at Emporia.
But the deciding factor according to Newkirk was that the Jayhawks showed the most interest in from the get go.
"I wouldn't say it was all KU, but I feel like KU just gave me the most attention and it felt like they wanted me to go there,'' Newkirk said. "I just felt like it was just the best place for me to be. It was just a natural.''
Hayden track and cross country star Tanner Newkirk signs his official national letter of intent with Kansas Wednesday at Hayden while his parents look on. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcat senior was the 4A state cross country champ as a junior and posted top-three state finishes his final three seasons after a 12th-place showing as a freshman.
Newkirk finished third at state this fall after sweeping city, Centennial League and 4A regional individual titles.
Newkirk, a four-time All-City/All-County pick, earned a pair of state medals in track as a freshman before having his sophomore season wiped out by COVID-19. Newkirk also missed the state meet his junior season due to injury.
Newkirk said he was happy to get his college choice out of the way.
"It's a lot of stress and this is just going to relieve a lot of stress that built up,'' Newkirk said. "It feels really, really good to get it over with and know where I'm going to be next fall.
"When track comes the only thing on my mind will be track and that feels really good to have that and not have to worry about college.''
Hayden senior distance ace Tanner Newkirk speaks to family and friends during Wednesday's signing ceremony at Hayden. Newkirk signed with Kansas. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Because of circumstances out of his control, Newkirk's track career hasn't gone quite as well as cross country, something he's determined to change next spring.
"I'm totally healthy and it's my second week back in training and it's going really well and I'm just building the mileage,'' Newkirk said. "I'm hopefully going to get a really good base in the winter and then have a really good track season.
"I'm so excited for the track season. I've achieved all I wanted to achieve in cross country. Now it's time to do that same thing in track.''
