AUBURN, Neb. – Allie Binder stepped onto the Auburn High School track earlier this month and took her mark, but she wasn’t getting ready to race. Instead, she was making her mark on her letter of intent to run track and cross country at the University of Nebraska.
The senior flipped her commitment from the University of South Dakota and became a Cornhusker by signing her signature on a table draped in a red table cloth and a Nebraska banner draped over the front, all in the middle of the track.
Binder loved South Dakota, but Nebraska is home to her and UNL was always her first choice.
“When they did a late recruitment about a month ago, it was a no-brainer to me. The day that I received the call that they wanted to recruit me, a couple hours before my mom and I were just talking about ‘wouldn’t it be really crazy if Nebraska just called you out of no where?’ So, when I got the call a couple hours later I was like, ‘hmm…this is probably fate.'”
Binder says she was a big fan of everything about the Huskers track and field program, including the athletes, facilities and distance coach David Harris.
Binder competed in her fourth-straight Nebraska School Activities Association State Track and Field Championships at Burke Stadium in Omaha last week.
She ran to a runner-up finish in the Class B girls 3200 meter run on Friday with a time of 11:45. It was her career best finish in the race at state. She finished third the last two seasons (sophomore year with HTRS and junior year with Auburn). She was ninth in her freshman season with HTRS.
She also had her best finish in the 1600 meter run at the state meet on Saturday. Binder crossed the finish line in 5:20.45 to end third and set a new personal best. Her previous best was a fifth-place finish during her sophomore year with the Titans. She was sixth last spring and seventh her freshman year.
Binder was “pretty happy” with her finish in the 1600 meter run, but says it really wasn’t the ending she wanted and it will only motivate her as she makes the jump to college running.
“I never thought it would come to an end like it did. I’m really thankful for everything my parents have done for me and for all my coaches for all the hard work we put in through practice.”
Binder ran to a seventh place finish in her lone appearance at the NSAA State Cross Country Championships last fall. She played volleyball at HTRS prior to running cross country at Auburn.
She was a guard for the girls basketball team, which qualified for the NSAA Girls State Basketball Championships in March for the first time since 1978. Only the second time ever the Bulldogs have been to the state tournament.
Binder plans to major in elementary education at UNL and eventually earn her masters in guidance counseling. She does want to coach in the future.
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