VALDOSTA —
In the midst of all the college football signings Wednesday, the young, blonde-haired student sat on the bleachers of the Lowndes High Gymnasium, surrounded by her family and friends, waiting for her moment.
Megan Charbeneau, the school’s most-dominant runner in recent history, was waiting for her time to sign her national letter of intent to the University of Georgia.
“Right now, I’m still in shock,” Charbeneau said. “To go into a great program like that, I know I can just get better and better. I know going up there will be really good.”
Once in Athens and on campus at UGA, Charbeneau will compete in cross country and track and field, specializing in long-distance running.
“When I get to Georgia, I’m going to run cross country and in track, I am probably going to focus on long-distance running, like the 5K,” Charbeneau said.
Her signing so important on Wednesday, head football coach — and athletic director — Randy McPherson put a stop to the football signings, allowing Charbeneau time to take her picture with family and the plethora of friends that came to support her moment. Charbeneau couldn’t stop smiling, even when she placed her red UGA hat onto her head.
“When I first moved her, I was really nervous,” Charbeneau said, “but this school was so welcoming and they were all so nice. I was just glad that I was able to fit right in.”
After moving down from south New Jersey to Lowndes County two years ago, after her father took a position with Wild Adventures, Charbeneau joined the cross country and track team at Lowndes High.
The move and her success was widely accepted by coach Antonio Wesley.
“She is a team player,” Wesley said. “Whatever we needed her to do, she did it.”
Immediately, her impact was felt.
Her junior year, Charbeneau won the Region 1-5A cross country championship. She followed it up a year later by winning six events her senior year, including the Region 1-6A championship in Tifton.
In state, Charbeneau finished 10th.
“I just think in South Georgia, it isn’t as hard as South Jersey,” Charbeneau said. “Once you get up to North Georgia, it gets kind of harder.”
In the 2012 track season, Charbeneau finished second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:43.22. Now as the new track season approaches, Wesley said Charbeneau is prepared for another big year.
“We are in the second week of practice and she already looks good,” Wesley said. “She is healthy and ready to go.”
But what’s the key to running long distances? Charbeneau says it is all mental.
“I think it is more mental than physical,” Charbeneau said. “If you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want to. And when you are running, you really do have to have a good mind.”
Charbeneau chose the University of Georgia after visiting the school multiple times, even taking in a football game at UGA’s Sanford Stadium, which she described as “a very different experience” that she “loved every second of.”
A future business management or marketing major, Charbeneau said Georgia stood out to her because of its dedication to helping student-athletes succeed in athletics and in the classroom. The nice campus didn’t hurt, either.
“I didn’t know much about (UGA) before moving down her from Jersey,” Charbeneau said. “I like how the campus is spread out, but you can walk it and then there are buses you can jump on. I love the downtown. And in athletics, you have the Rankin Center and how they help you with all your classes.”
As she continues to improve on her running, Charbeneau will have to continue to deal with humidity, something she didn’t have to deal with during her time in New Jersey.
“The humidity was hard to get used to,” she said. “I’m good now, but it was hard to get used to.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Lowndes’ Megan Charbeneau (middle) signed a national letter of intent to the University of Georgia on Wednesday. Charbeneau will compete in cross country and track for the Bulldogs. Here, Charbeneau is joined by her parents Kristen and Greg Charbeneau (front), Rusty Jones, Jody Harbin and coaches Kip Burdette and Antonio Wesley. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
Discussion
Georgia bound: Lowndes’ Charbeneau signs with UGA cross country, track and field
- Local Sports
-
-
VSU eliminated
Valdosta State softball’s bid for a national title repeat came up short this season.
The Blazers were eliminated from the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament Saturday with a 7-5 loss in nine innings to Armstrong Atlantic University, a school based off the Georgia coast in Savannah. -
Win or go home
The Valdosta State softball team faces Armstrong Atlantic University in an elimination game for the 2013 Division II Softball Championship Tournament today at noon.
-
HOOPER: An early look at the 2013 football season
I haven’t written a column in quite some time, largely because there has been so much going on and we haven’t always had the space, nor have I felt up to it after writing so many other stories.
But today, I am writing this column and taking up the inches in the daily sports section and giving a little love to the upcoming football season. -
Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
-
Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
-
Golfers take course for Wounded Warriors
Local patrons participated in the Wounded Warrior Project Golf Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Valdosta on Thursday.
-
Valwood football hosting 4-man scramble golf tourney
Head coach Ashley Henderson and the Valwood football team will be hosting a 4-man scramble golf tournament at Valdosta Country Club Friday, June 14.
-
VHS football cheerleaders to host Junior Cheer Camp
The Valdosta High School football cheerleaders will be hosting a Junior Cheer Camp June 5 through June 7 at the W.G. Nunn Elementary School gymnasium.
-
Gillespie, McPherson pleased with spring practices
Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie and Lowndes’ Randy McPherson both think their football teams got better during the recent 10 days of spring practice.
Then again, both coaches know their teams have a ways to go before the start of the football season. -
Signing day at VHS
It was signing day galore at Valdosta High School Wednesday.
Six student-athletes signed national letter of intents to compete at the next level, while two VHS athletes both signed academic scholarships to Division I universities. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
