Cole gets head start for college career

Comet senior signs on to run track and cross country at UNI, where she will start classes this winter

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — This is only supposed to happen to college coaches.

You know the drill. Prized athlete forgoes senior year — or even junior or sophomore year — to jump to the pros.

Charles City girls track coach Darren Bohlen is faced with a similar dilemma. Except one of his all-time best athletes is not leaving college early … she’s entering college early.

“As a coach, you would like to have her back for one last season,” Bohlen said of 5-time state track medalist McKayla Cole, who on Wednesday signed to run track and cross country at the University of Northern Iowa.

Currently a senior at Charles City, Cole’s decision on where to continue her student-athlete career at this point in the school year shouldn’t have much bearing on the rest of her final high school athletic career.

But as reported shortly after she placed runner-up at the Class 3A Girls State Cross Country Meet, Cole raced her last event as a Comet and will begin at UNI next semester starting Jan. 9.

“She’s ready to move on,” Bohlen said. “We’re obviously going to miss her, but she gave us three great years.

“There are other girls from the cross country team who are very talented and we’re going to look for them to step up. And in track and field there are other events where girls are going to asked to step. But it’s going to be hard to replace an elite runner like McKayla.”

Bohlen said Cole’s decision didn’t come as a surprise.

“She was talking about going early last spring,” Bohlen said.

Amanda Rahmiller, who coaches the Comets girls cross country team that recently finished third and is Bohlen’s assistant on the track team, supports Cole’s move.

“She’s going to redshirt this track season, so that will help her adjust to the college life,” Rahmiller said. “She’ll be able to compete at meets, but she’ll be doing it at an unattached level.”

For Rahmiller, who took over the Comet girls cross country program four years ago, Cole will be her first athlete to go Division 1.

“You don’t get too many Division 1 athletes anymore … let alone for two sports though cross country and distance track usually come together,” Rahmiller said.

Cole plans to major in elementary education. As for the events she will major in this track season, Cole still doesn’t know for sure.

“I plan to do the 5K and steeplechase,” she said, “but we’ll have to see.”

Cole said she had been planning to go to UNI since middle school.

“I have several close friends going to UNI,” Cole said. “I can’t say they’re the reason why I’m leaving early to go there because I was planning to go there anyway, but that helped with the decision.”

Though Cole is due to see some familiar faces in Cedar Falls, the competition she will face may not be as friendly.

“She’s going from being one of the top high school runners here to having to compete against runners who are going to be ahead of her over there,” Rahmiller said. “It’s going to be tough, but this is going to push her to be the best runner she could possibly be.”