Edgewood's Clara Crain, Eastern's Kenady Hudson lock in college plans
Clara Crain is a country (music) girl at heart.
So choosing to run for Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, there was a great side benefit for the Edgewood senior standout distance runner. She signed her letter of intent last week that included athletic and academic scholarship money.
Crain decided on the Bruins after two visits to the school, making up her mind earlier in the fall. She also checked out Purdue, Grand Valley State and Delaware.
"The big thing for Belmont was the team chemistry," Crain said. "It was really good. It's a smaller team, about 12 girls, so it felt a lot more like family. And I'm excited for the coach (former Minnesota standout Kate Bucknam). She's pretty young and definitely knows what she's doing and she works well with her athletes."
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Crain plans to study physical therapy so Belmont's strong program was a draw. Crane was also looking for a competitive program and the Bruins recently took second in the Missouri Valley Conference meet to Bradley.
Crain had an inside source in former Bloomington North standout Kayli Clark, who is a member of the women's track team, and was able to also turn to older sister Annalyssa, now a sophomore runner at Illinois.
"She definitely helped me know the right questions to ask and what to look for in a school," Clara said. "So she really helped me."
Clara is happy to get her college decision sewn up and herself healed up for track season. Her cross country season came to an early end after suffering some tendonitis. She was limited to cross training all but one day a week. She's planning to run the 1,600 and 3,200 and will likely take aim at the longer race for state.
After that, she'll get ready to head to Tennessee.
"I always said I would not go to a school in a big city," Crain said. "But Nashville didn't really qualify for that point. It didn't feel like you were in the middle of a city when you were on campus.
"I love Nashville. It's definitely a cool city and I'm a big country music fan."
Kenady Hudson to Mount St. Joseph
Eastern Greene senior Kenday Hudson was upfront with any college recruiter who contacted her, letting them know she was coming off a second knee surgery in a four-year span. She also let them know it was not going to stop her from living out her dream of playing college basketball.
One of them was the new head coach at NCAA Division III Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Maisie Elston came on board after stints at IU-East and Earlham. Hudson had other choices, including an offer from Olney Central where Eastern grad Clint Burris is the head coach. Millikin, Heidelberg and Centre were also interested.
But Mount St. Joseph won out.
"My focus was on academics before basketball," Hudson said. "I visited Mount St. Joseph in late July, early August, and as soon as I stepped on campus, I knew. I loved the coach, she knows so much and she reminds me of my dad (Eastern boys' coach Jamie)."
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MSJ felt like home, Hudson said, and was just far enough away from home as well. Hudson plans to study pharmacology.
"It's small and it feels like I'm part of a big family and not just another number," Hudson said. "I met some of the girls and they're all about it. I'm not a drama girl. I have enough of that with my brothers. I wanted to be a part of something big and the girls all seem to be having fun together."
It's all good right now for the 5-foot-11 Hudson, who is averaging 13.2 ppg and has the T-Birds off to a 4-1 start. MSJ wants her as a power forward and she's looking forward to the challenge.
"Overall, the recruiting, it was hard, especially with two knee surgeries, in eighth grade and last year," Hudson said. "It was definitely hard because of the mental aspect. I knew I wanted to play college basketball. I'm a coaches daughter and for as long as I can remember, I've been in a gym.
"But I've worked my butt off. There's more of a battle in your mind. You feel like something is going to happen. I would get knocked down and it scared the life out of me. There are moments you'd freeze, but then you'd realize it's fine."
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: High school sports: Clara Crain, Kenady Hudson lock in college plans
