Lowry High School senior Becca Kuskie has received both academic and athletic scholarships to attend Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Ore. for the 2019-2020 year.
On Tuesday, she signed her letter of intent with family, friends and faculty present.
"I got in contact with one of the admissions counselors who happens to be one of their cross country coaches and she started recruiting me," Kuskie said. "After careful consideration I decided that was the best place for me to go, especially because my sister (Alyssa) will be there next year with me. I have made friends with some of her teammates on the basketball team already. I am thinking about majoring in Psychology with a minor in Spanish.”
Back in October, Kuskie took fourth (20:42) at the 3A Northern Cross Country Regional Championships, and she was 17th at the NIAA State Championships last November.
In 2017, Kuskie ran to a second place finish (20.31) at regionals and finished third (20:19) at state, while in 2016 as a sophomore Kuskie finished 17th (22:14) at regionals and 21st (21:18) at state.
The LHS cross country team has the most State Championships (9) in the 3A division.
Kuskie was a member of Lowry’s fourth-place (10:30.64) 4x800 relay team at the 3A Northern League Track and Field Championships in Fallon this year. She she also finished fourth (5:25.64) in the 1600 meters. At the 3A State Championships in Las Vegas she took fourth (5:22.32) again in the 1600 meters and fifth (12:26.99) in the 3200 meters.
In 2018 as a junior, Kuskie finished second (5:20.82) in the 1600 meters at regionals, and third (11:42.45) in the 3200 meters. At the state tournament she finished third (11:49.91) in the 3200 meters and fourth (5:22.87) in the 1600 meters, and The Lady Bucks took the state title that year. 2017 found Kuskie finishing fifth (5:31.88) in the 1600 meters and seventh (12:21.63) in the 3200 meters at regionals.
“My best Lowry memory is probably winning state with my track team last year," Kuskie said.
Kuskie will be running for both the cross country and track teams at Northwest Christian University.
“I feel like this school is going to be a really good fit for her, because it is relatively close to home and her older sister is there as a support group for her," said LHS cross country head coach and track assistant coach Kathy Norcutt of Kuskie. "The weather in Eugene is great for running and it is the running capital of the world. I think Becca is going to do awesome next year. She worked out with the team up there over spring break and she was able to do absolutely everything that they were doing at the college level workout. The coach complimented her on her conditioning and being able to do everything, because most people coming in can’t do what they are doing. I am super proud of her; it is awesome to see a kid who has goals and ambitions. She has been focused on this since she was a freshman and was willing to put in all of the time and effort and hard work to make that dream happen, that is the best that you could ask for.”
