Galion High School senior Miranda Stone signs her letter of intent to join the track and field team at Duke University while her parents, Mandy Teeters and Chris Stone, look on Thursday.
Erin Miller | Galion Inquirer
When senior Miranda Stone graduates from Galion High School this May, she will take her athletic talents to Durham, North Carolina, after she signed her national letter of intent Thursday to join the track and field team at Duke University.
For Stone, this wasn’t a decision she took lightly by any means. She spent the past few months fielding recruiting phone calls and going on multiple in-person visits to narrow down which school was going to be the right fit for her to not only continue her education, but also her experience in track and field.
“To a certain extent, it was kind of a no-brainer,” said Stone. “It’s Duke. The education I will get there speaks for itself. And at the same time, if you remove the education aspect, I really felt at home there. The team atmosphere is great, and I love the coach.”
Stone’s mother, Mandy Teeters, said her daughter has always been a very goal-oriented person.
“I think that’s one of the main reasons she ended up choosing Duke. She sees this team and the educational opportunities in front of her, too, and knows that is what she wants,” Teeters said.
Setting goals is definitely not a foreign concept for Stone. Now that she has her commitment to Duke under her belt, she can fine tune her focus even more on the rest of her high school career.
Stone was the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion in both the shot put and discus last season, and she was All-Ohio with her sixth-place finish in shot put at the state track meet last spring. For her, getting back to the state meet and standing at the top of the podium is where she sees herself this time around.
Reaching her goals over the next few years won’t be easy, but it’s a challenge Stone is more than willing to take on.
“It was a nerve-wracking choice to make to choose Duke,” she said. “To be 8 hours away from home, not know anybody, and everything like that definitely made it hard. But I know in the end this is how I will grow. If I want to achieve my goals, I have to step outside of my comfort zone.”
Contact Erin Miller at [email protected].
