Prater signs with Youngstown State University
Alexis Prater (center) signed her letter of intent on Nov. 20, to continue her track career at Youngstown State University. She is pictured with her mother and father Maria and Jason Prater. Josie Sellers | Beacon
WEST LAFAYETTE – When Alexis Prater was 10, she asked if she could go to a track meet.
“It was winter, but my dad found an AAU indoor meet and that started it all,” said the Ridgewood High School senior.
Alexis’ father, Jason Prater shared that same story on Nov. 20, right before she signed her letter of intent to continue her track career at Division I Youngstown State.
“It’s been a fun journey,” he said. “This has been a dream of hers and I’m very proud of her.”
Alexis’ specialties are the long jump and hurdles and she plans to do both in college.
“When I was a sophomore, I realized I didn’t want to be done with track in two years,” she said. “I really wanted to continue on with this. I like the competition part of track and that it also has a team aspect. All my individual events are special to me, but my favorite memory is when my 4×1 got third at state.”
Alexis’ mom, Maria Prater is happy to see her continue her track career at Youngstown.
“She looked at a lot of different schools and talked to a lot of different coaches,” Maria said. “I’m excited about the new chapter she is going to start at Youngstown State.”
The university was one of the last that Alexis visited.
“As soon as I walked on campus I was just like ‘wow,’” she said. “I could just tell that this was it.”
Darrell Ball, girls track coach at Ridgewood, said Youngstown is getting a dedicated, team player.
“Once she sets her mind to something, she works as hard as she can to accomplish it,” he said. “She also wants to do whatever she can to help the team. She gets along well with everyone too, whether they are stars like her or rookies.”
Assistant Coach Dan Smith added that Alexis is very coachable.
“She listens, absorbs and works hard on her own,” he said.
Alexis is appreciative of her coaches and several others for helping her get where she is today.
“I want to thank my parents, my coaches and all my teammates,” she said. “My teammates and I have always been close and support each other through all the different sports we do.”
Alexis is undecided at this time on what her major at Youngstown will be.
Category: High School, Sports
