VALDOSTA — With his eye still on improving, Lowndes’ Chance Roe showed Wednesday afternoon how good he already is on a track.

The Vikings’ standout signed a letter-of-intent at the LHS media center to run collegiately at Troy University.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Roe said after signing in front of his family and coaches from both middle school and high school. “I’ve always been wanting to get better and I feel like this is just going to be a great leap forward for my running career.

“That’s all I’ve been looking for, trying to go D-1 … it’s definitely what I wanted to do.”

Roe, who also starred for Lowndes’ cross country team and will likely compete for the Trojans’ cross country team as well, has accomplished quite a bit already in his running career. He placed fifth in the state in the 800 meters a year ago and after being slowed earlier this spring following a surgery to remove his tonsils, Roe is back on track as a senior.

After teammate Kaleb Wolfenden set a new school record in the 1,600 meters at the Bob Hayes Invitational in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 19, finishing fourth in 4 minutes, 25 seconds. That mark didn’t last even two weeks before Roe topped it at the Florida Relays in Gainesville on April 1. There, Roe finished 12th in a tough field, crossing in 4 minutes, 20 seconds.

“He’s just finally getting caught up,” Lowndes track coach Terry Quinn said about Roe coming back from the surgery. “(He had a) heck of a junior year and we were looking for a big senior year and he’s doing that for us.

“Great student, great student also and a great runner. A 4.0 student and he’s a heck of a runner.”

But once Roe gets to Troy, he aims on lowering his times even more.

“They said they can improve my times lower than I ever thought before,” he said. “They said they can keep me healthy all year-round and basically prep me for the greatest things to come in college.”

That chance at improving as well as the overall package made Troy the best spot for Roe, who also visited Western Kentucky as well as Embry-Riddle and Barry University.

“They gave the best offer and it was the most comfortable for me and my family,” he said. “I got along with the guys really well and they just had small class sizes and everything that I needed right there.”

Jamie Wachter is the sports editor of the Valdosta Daily Times and can be followed on Twitter @jlwachter.