Three months ago, Hunter Paulsen had no serious thoughts about running cross country in college.
A state championship helped change his mind.
Paulsen, a senior at Elk Point-Jefferson High School, signed in the past week to run cross country and track at the University of South Dakota — a 15-minute drive from his home in Elk Point.
“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to run in college,” he said.
But as his season started and he began winning meets, Paulsen considered his options.
“I figured I’d give it a try,” he said.
It was after Paulsen won the South Dakota State Class A individual title in late October that USD head coach Dan Fitzsimmons called. Eventually, after a visit to the Vermillion campus, Paulsen agreed to sign with the Coyotes.
“I felt comfortable with the campus, I liked it a lot,” Paulsen said. “It’s close to home, only fifteen minutes.”
He’s not, though, completely unfamiliar with USD, he added.
“I was pretty excited,” Paulsen said. “I had two sisters that went there, so I knew they had a good school. I was pretty familiar with it.”
And, as it turns out, the Coyotes were rather familiar with Paulsen.
“Hunter is a proven winner,” Fitzsimmons said in the release. “He is a young man with a lot of talent who will thrive in our program. He reminds me of some of the Class A and Class B athletes we have had in our program in the past who had tremendous success here.
“We like to think that he is one of those diamonds in the rough.”
Paulsen said he plans to major in kinesiology and sport science with an emphasis in sport management at USD, which will open its new academic laboratory attached to the new arena in the fall of 2016.
“I guess the training will be a lot better, which should help me,” Paulsen said.
Paulsen will also run track for the Coyotes, who will open a new outdoor track complex in time to host the 2016 Summit League outdoor meet.
In the meantime, he’s ready to embrace the transition from high school cross country into the college ranks, Paulsen said.
“I’m really excited for it,” he said. “I’m up for the challenge, it should be fun.”
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