Christian Academy of Indiana's Skylar Stidam has made his college choice. He will be matriculating to Indiana University to become a Hoosier.
Stidam is one of the best runners from Indiana in the Class of 2018. He enters into the State Cross Country Tournament as the 2nd best returner from 2016, where he finished 3rd, behind Gabe Fendel and Curtis Eckstein. He is also coming off of a 2nd place finish in the 3200m at the State Meet in June.
I had a chance to talk to Skylar about his decision. "Whenever I went [on my official visit] the team just made me feel really welcomed. I just felt I was at home. It is nice because it away from my home, but it is still in state."
Stidam currently has PRs of 4:19.91, 9:09.69 and 15:29.10 in the 1600m/3200m/5k.
"Coach Helmer is an outstanding coach" Stidam says "He has had countless All Americans, and has developed many kids like me into great All American caliber runners, which is what I was really looking for."
I asked him about his expectations for college, "I am hoping to develop more as a runner and as a person. I want to contribute to the team, and help them break the Top 10 in Cross Country.
"I knew I wanted to go to a big school, which they definitely are. I also wanted to go to a place where I wasn't going to be the best runner when I stepped on campus immediately. They have great guys like Bryce Millar, Ben Veatch, and guys like Kyle Mau. They are a young team too, which is really appealing to me."
Stidam has already taken home two postseason titles this season. He took home the individual Sectional and Regional crowns these last two Saturdays, leading his team to their second straight Sectional title and a runner up finish at Regionals. He will be racing this Saturday at the Brown County Semi-State, where he will be defending his title from last season.
