Cousins Blake Bowen and Jaylee Wingate are both headed to the big stage for college

To say Norwayne senior Jaylee Wingate and Wooster senior Blake Bowen have had great prep careers, would be shortchanging them both. Over the span of their high school years, the two have already cemented their place as local legends before they've even graduated.

To put the exclamation mark on it, Wingate signed her letter of intent to take her running talents to the University of Tennessee and Bowen signed his letter to another SEC program in the University of Kentucky.

Wingate broke the area’s single-season best time in cross country by almost a full minute as a senior, as she broke West Holmes’ Michelle Hostetler’s time of 18:12 set in 2015 with a flashing clock of 17:15. On the track last spring, she set the area’s all-time record in the 800 and 1,600 and had the third-best time in the 3,200.

Not to be outdone, Bowen, her cousin, hit .568, which was sixth all-time tying former Northwestern standout Jacob Frank in 1999. His 45 RBIs tied former Hillsdale standout Dex Rogers (2012) for sixth best all-time. That followed up a sophomore campaign that saw Bowen hit .425, drive in 32 runs and score 25 times.

Just that alone could make one wonder, how family gatherings are. Who has the bragging rights, who ends up on the front of grandma’s fridge and who is singing the other’s fight song.

“It’s always about bragging rights and who is going to be put on grandma’s fridge in the morning,” said Wingate. “It’s who's going to get the newspaper clippings and those types of things.”

“Definitely at family reunions, her dad (Dan) will sing ‘Rocky Top,’” agreed Bowen. “He likes to make that joke, but it’s really cool to be able to talk to her, how it came about and it’s a really cool thing to be able to talk about.”

Ultimately for both of them, their decisions came down to feel, coaches and with an eye on their own future potential.

“It’s the potential that the program has under Coach (Sean) Carlson,” said Wingate. “With him being from Notre Dame, he has a lot of experience, has coached several amazing athletes and I know that running for him can definitely bring out the best in me for the future.

“He has that really competitive drive. He can definitely be goofy at times, but when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. I think that’s what he really preaches about the program, its seriousness when you need to, and I really like that.”

An official visit sealed the deal for Wingate as she listened to the words of her father.

“My dad said I would get that gut feeling and I did,” said Wingate. “From that first phone call from Carlson, I kind of knew they were the ones. Everything from the energy and to the school, there is no energy like it. The school spirit was everywhere and I am going to be so proud to wear the orange.”

The competitiveness of being in the SEC was another contributing factor as she looks at fulfilling her potential and chasing her goals.

“There is definitely going to be a lot of great competition in the conference on our team,” said Wingate. “It’s going to be a really big change, fighting for position, not only on the team, but in the conference and nationally. That will really drive me and motivate me.”

For Bowen, who committed over a year ago to become a Wildcat, it came down to comfort with the staff, overall environment and an opportunity.

“The coaching staff was incredible, and they all made me feel welcome,” said Bowen. “It felt like home to me, I liked everything about Kentucky. It’s in the SEC and it’s an incredible opportunity.”

With a final set of schools that included Kent State University, Ohio State University and West Virginia University, Bowen had his pick of programs.

Coach Will Coggin was Bowen’s lead recruiter, and the Wildcat coach definitely left an impression that ultimately helped him make the decision. One of the big factors for the Generals senior was how he felt that Kentucky could help him continue to get even better both on the diamond and off of it.

“I really hit the weight room, the people around me pushed me every day and they helped me to be the best person and player that I could be,” said Bowen. “My parents are two big people, who have helped me to be a better person.”

And as for Coach Coggin?

“Coach took me under his wing and made me feel really valued by the program,” added Bowen. “He compared me to people prior, like Evan White, who plays for Seattle but came from Kentucky and that stuck out to me. He is always mentoring me and it’s just a really cool opportunity.”

Now though, the only real question remains, can Bowen beat Wingate in a short sprint race? He already has conceded a distance run to the latter. As for the sprint, he very firmly believes that’s a race he can win and doubled down on it.

“I definitely believe I can win a short sprint,” he laughed. “We just need to set it up.”

For both Wingate and Bowen, though the competitive fire that started at a young age still rages on, they couldn't be happier for each other’s success. Though neither will want to know the other’s fight song, they will definitely be rooting for each other, no matter who wins that sprint race and who gets on grandma’s fridge first.

“We’re in a really competitive family and I think that it just kind of excites me knowing that somebody else has that same motivational drive as me,” said Wingate. “It’s really special, that it’s someone from my own family, it’s really cool that we can both go to the SEC of all places.”

“It’s really cool, even if Tennessee is a big rival, I am really happy for her and excited to see what she is going to do down there,” said Bowen. “I 100% feel like it’s still a competition, it’s just now, how far we can go, but at the end of the day, we love each other.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Cousins Blake Bowen and Jaylee Wingate both headed to SEC schools