St. Teresa’s senior runner commits to two-time cross country national champion

St. Teresa’s Academy senior Ann Campbell had been running competitively for only one year when she reached a conclusion about her long-term future.

A few of her elder high school teammates had signed with college running programs, and so Campbell set her sights high, too, making it a goal to run cross country at the NCAA Division I level.

But this high? Not exactly.

Campbell inked a national letter of intent to continue her running career at Villanova, the 2010 and 2009 NCAA cross country national champions.

“I didn’t start looking at Villanova until probably November — I didn’t think I’d be good enough, because it’s such a good program,” said Campbell, who signed during this month’s spring signing period. “When I realized I had the opportunity, I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”

Campbell, who will also run track at Villanova, finished among the top eight at the Missouri Class 4 cross country state meet each of the past two seasons.

She was second in the 1,600-meter run and fifth in the 3,200-meter run at the Missouri Class 4 track and field state meet last spring.

Kaiser to Vanderbilt

On a high school baseball recruiting website, a list of the top prospects in the country is accompanied by their eye-popping offensive numbers.

Blue Valley West senior Connor Kaiser is the exception. Kaiser earned his seven NCAA Division I scholarship offers for an entirely different reason.

Defense.

As a sophomore, Kaiser was one of three high school infielders in the country to receive a Rawlings Gold Glove award after he finished the season without an error. The scholarship offers rolled in afterward.

Kaiser settled on Vanderbilt, and his signing was honored with a ceremony on Tuesday at Blue Valley West.

“My dad always told me when I was younger that I had great hands and great footwork,” said Kaiser, a shortstop. “I’ve always taken pride in my defense and worked really hard on that.”

Seven Hawklets sign

Rockhurst senior Luke Ritter spent the fall season helping the Hawklets’ football program reach the Missouri Class 6 state championship game.

But he grew up with a baseball glove on his hand, as he puts it, and so when Wichita State offered him an NCAA Division I baseball scholarship in October 2013, he quickly accepted.

He’s one of many college-bound players for the Rockhurst basetball team.

Seven Hawklets inked national letters of intent — a bulk of them during the spring signing period this month. Ben Whetstone (Missouri State), Nick Bosma (Rhodes College), Luke Eckley (Rockhurst University), Tyler Peterson (Drury), J.T. Watt (Murray State) and Jared Robbins (Johnson County Community College) have also signed to play in college.

It should serve as no surprise, in that case, that Rockhurst boasted a 13-2 record entering Thursday and is ranked No. 3 in the latest Missouri Class 5 baseball coaches state poll.

“We’re strong in a lot of areas,” Ritter said. “We have a good infield, good bats, good pitching. We have high expectations to get out of districts this season and make a run.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 4:36 PM with the headline "St. Teresa’s senior runner commits to two-time cross country national champion."