One of the most dominant female distance runners in recent history at Pitman High School has made her college plans official, signing her National Letter of Intent last week to continue her academic and athletic career at the University of California, San Diego.
Carlson was joined by dozens of family, friends, teammates and coaches at a special ceremony last Wednesday as she committed to the Tritons to compete in both cross country and track and field.
The senior explained that the possibility of competing at the collegiate level became very real during a stellar sophomore season in which she qualified to the Sac-Joaquin Section Championships in cross country and the section’s track and field Masters meet. She actively began exploring opportunities last year.
Since that sophomore year, Carlson has single-handedly rewritten the Pride record books, holding the individual all-time program marks in the 800- (2:22.32), 1600- (4:59.41) 3200- (10:41.36) and 5,000-meter races (18:06.6), breaking her own records in several instances. She is also a member of the record-holding 4x800 and 4000-meter distance medley relay teams, with times of 9:43.28 and 13:23.30, respectively.
“My coaches and team members have all been very supportive on my journey,” Carlson said. “From strategizing with coaches on personal bests to extra practices and showing up to cheer me on, I have been blessed with an amazing team at Pitman. As I finish my season this spring with track and field, I hope to continue to see gains in my mile and two mile records as well as have fun.”
Carlson, a multiple-time CIF State qualifier across both track and cross country who plans to study psychology, was drawn to UCSD for both its athletic and academic repertoire.
“UCSD is a top rated research university and I was really interested in having access to research opportunities as an undergraduate. And, of course, the campus and surrounding areas are stunning,” Carlson said.
“In terms of their academic programs, I was especially interested in the psychology and neuroscience programs as I’m passionate about exploring the connections between cognitive function, behavioral responses, nutritional health and exercise — areas I hope to integrate into my future career. In terms of their athletics program, the team and coaches have created a very supportive and welcoming team. They are very passionate and dedicated to running and it excited me to have the chance to run with such an amazing group of individuals.”
Carlson’s final season as a high school student-athlete will begin in late February and early March, as the Pitman High track and field program hopes to improve on last year’s accomplishment of sending seven to the CIF State Championships.
