University of Minnesota Athletics
Ski-U-Mah Preview: North Star
9/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The following is an excerpt from "North Star," a feature story about Gopher softball pitcher Sara Groenewegen, who emerged from under-recruited prospect to dominat Big Ten hurler to one of the premier pitchers in international softball.
Be sure to check out Michael Molde's entire piece, as well as other great articles about Gopher student-athletes, coaches and teams, in the September issue of Ski-U-Mah, which will be available online here at GopherSports.com Thursday, September 24 and in print at Gopher Athletics venues later this month.
"I wasn't highly recruited and there were really only a couple schools that showed serious interest in me," Groenewegen said. "It's funny, because I honestly didn't even know where or what Minnesota was. I knew where Washington and Oregon were, just because they're close to where I grew up, but I was like, 'What the heck is Minnesota?' I had never heard of it."
That might seem absurd to most Americans who read this but, honestly, how many American high school students can correctly answer questions about Canadian geography?
Groenewegen spent her entire childhood in the same house in picturesque White Rock, British Columbia, which she calls "the most beautiful place in the world." Located 15 miles from the Washington state border, and about two hours from Seattle, the suburban town of White Rock is unlikely to make anyone'slist of softball recruiting hotbeds.
But Head Coach Jessica Allister, who now enters her sixth year at Minnesota with an impressive mark of 191-88 and three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, is truly fortunate one of her current star players flew under the recruiting radar.
"Sara was playing for the Washington Sidewinders and she absolutely slipped through the cracks," Allister said. "Recruiting in softball has gotten to the point where schools recruit earlier and earlier, and some players who don't get the same exposure as others can be overlooked. Sara was one of those players and the University of Minnesota has benefitted greatly from it."
Having first seen Groenewegen compete at tournaments in Seattle and Portland, Allister immediately knew she had discovered a player who could help her program succeed. But it took some convincing to get Groenewegen to agree to visit the Twin Cities.
"I received an email from Coach (Piper) Ritter. She was so adamant about getting me on campus for a visit. She just kept insisting that I come check it out and that I'd love it," Groenewegen said. "So I finally took a visit during my junior year. They were right. I loved the campus and the girls were so welcoming. I just felt right at home. There's no better feeling than to feel at home when that place is half-way across the country."
