Cavanaugh will attend Eastern Michigan
BENTLEYVILLE — Brenna Cavanaugh has accomplished a great deal in her three seasons of track & field at Bentworth High School, gaining a lot of attention from universities and colleges from around the nation.
Cavanaugh ended her search Wednesday when she signed a letter-of-intent to attend Eastern Michigan University in the fall of 2018.
Cavanaugh visited a number of schools, including official visits to Penn State, Kansas, McNeese State (La.), North Carolina and Eastern Michigan. She even stayed with Connellsville graduate Madison Wiltrout on her visit to UNC.
“Eastern Michigan is more homey. I liked the track team better,” Cavanaugh said of factors in her decision. “It’s a small big school (located in Ypsilanti), which is nice because I come from a small school.
“They had my major (nursing) and I can get my master’s degree there. I would’ve had to transfer to another school (at the other universities).”
Eastern Michigan came relatively late into the recruiting process.
“They called my dad first. They were one of the later ones,” said the daughter of Carla and Jerry Cavanaugh. “I had my mind set at North Carolina.
“(Eastern Michigan) has a lot of NCAA champions. (Volunteer coach Donald Scott) is on the worlds (World Championship) team in the (triple jump).”
Cavanaugh can now focus on training for the spring and her studies as fellow classmates fret about their futures.
“It’s so nice. People are stressing. It’s so good to be done,” Cavanaugh, who has a 3.6 GPA, said of her decision. “I’m just really excited for track. I get to go home after track and do my homework.
“I’m so anxious for track to start.”
Cavanaugh had quite a spring for herself, winning WPIAL Class AA gold in the 100-meter high hurdles and long jump, silver in the 100 and fifth in the triple jump. She overcame a stumble over the last hurdle in the semifinals to slip into final spot into the finals and then hurdled her way to a PIAA gold medal in the 100 high hurdles. Cavanaugh also won bronze in the PIAA Class AA long jump.
Cavanaugh was the state champion in the long jump at the 2017 PTFCA Indoor State Championship.
Cavanaugh will likely drop the triple jump from her list of events in the spring, so she, along with the head coach Jerome Nixon and the Bentworth staff, will look for a fourth event.
She already has her sights set on accomplishing one goal in the spring after falling short last season.
“This year I want 21 (feet) in the long jump. I wanted 20 (feet) last year, but 20 was not a good number,” Cavanaugh said with a grin.
Cavanaugh also has her sights set on larger, future competitions.
“That would be amazing. I would really like to be in the trials,” Cavanaugh said when asked about the 2020 Olympics in London. “My goal is really to go to trials.
“I definitely want to go pro. I told my parents that is something I always wanted to do.”