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St. Marys senior Syerra Greber, seated second from left, signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to run track at Bowling Green State University. Seated with her are her parents Dan and Regina Greber and her sister Bailey. Standing are St. Marys head track coach Nick Page and assistant Seth Vorhees.
ST. MARYS - St. Marys track standout Syerra Greber is continuing her career at the NCAA Division I level.
Greber, who earned her second All-Ohio finish two weeks ago, signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to run at Bowling Green State University next year.
"The state meet, they came up to me again," she said. "Then they offered me some (scholarship) money."
Greber had intended to study nuclear medicine at the University of Cincinnati and was considering walking on to the track team there, but she ended her senior year with a bang and drew the attention of the Falcons.
Greber made four trips to the state tournament, one as a member of the 4x200-meter relay and two running the 200 before qualifying in two events this year. She had a chance to make it in the 200 as well, but withdrew from the final at regionals due to fatigue.
In college, she expects to run both the indoor and outdoor seasons, primarily running the 400 to start.
"He also said, junior and senior year, he'd like me to be in the heptathlon," she said.
In college, heptathlon requires running the 200 and 800, hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and javelin throw. Greber did a little bit of high jump and long jump in high school, but several of the events will be entirely new.
"Javelin, I definitely haven't done that," Greber said, "and the 100-meter hurdles."
Over her high school career, Greber said the biggest thing she learned was to be open to running the 400.
After opposing it her sophomore and junior years, her coaches persuaded her to take it up in her senior year, and it quickly became a strength.
"I was very adamant on not doing it," she said, "and as I progressed through it, it got easier and I seemed to enjoy it more. I just learned to enjoy the hard things, I guess."
St. Marys coach Nick Page agreed that the decision to run the 400 marked a key step forward, and said that it ended up being her best race.
"What we're best at is not always what we gravitate towards, but I think she's embracing it," he said. "I think part of her growing as an athlete, and I think she'll be very competitive at the next level."
With Greber going full-time on track instead of devoting the offseason to volleyball and basketball, plus the advantages of Division I coaching and facilities, Page said she might be able to take two-plus seconds off her 400 time, which peaked at 56.93 seconds at the state tournament.
"It's going to be exciting to see where she's at," he said. "I think she has a lot of potential she hasn't tapped into yet."
