Track & Field: Gorton signs with Wagner

Some children dream about playing professional sports when they grow up.

For Douglas High's Jessica Gorton, all she wanted was simply to play a sport in college.

This week, she drew that much closer to making the dream a reality.

Gorton signed a national letter of intent to compete for the Wagner College women's track & field program Wednesday evening at her home. All told, the school will cover more than 75 percent of her education.

The Tiger senior will specialize in the long jump, triple jump and high jump at Wagner, which is located in Staten Island, New York. She is coming off a stellar junior season during which she broke the school record in the long jump (17-4.5) and earned first-team all-region honors in the same event.

"I'm just so excited to have this opportunity," Gorton said. "I've always wanted to play a sport in college and I've been dreaming about where that could be. Everything about this school " the academics, the nursing school, the whole way the school is run " just seemed perfect."

It's an opportunity she wasn't even sure would materialize after a setback toward the end of last track season.

Gorton injured herself during the Northern 4A Regional Championships at Damonte Ranch in May and found out a little over a month later that she had a bone bruise.

She's spent much of the time since on crutches, allowing the injury to heal.

"It was hard at first, not being able to run or anything," Gorton said. "I had so many track meets I was planning to attend last summer, hoping to get noticed by some schools. When I got hurt, I wasn't sure anyone would show any interest."

Still, thanks to an online recruiting profile and based on her previous accomplishments on the track, when the contact period opened on July 1, schools started calling.

Hawaii-Manoa was the first, followed by a call here and there. After a slow first couple of months, she began receiving three to four calls a week when November had rolled around.

From there, she narrowed her search down to Western Oregon, Nevada, UNC-Ashville and Wagner.

"I started researching schools and I really had to like the location to keep a school on my list," she said. "It had to be a place I'd want to go to school for four years."

Some coaches commented on her widespread final four.

"They teased me for being all over the map," she said. "Each place I had narrowed it down to was so different from the other. I just kept the four corners really."

She took an official visit to Nevada and was initially impressed, but travelled to New York for her official visit to Wagner in late January.

"I went by myself, it was my first time on on airplane by myself," she said. "Getting through the changeover in Chicago was a little nervewracking. Once I got to New York City, it was very surreal. I realized it as the first time in my life that I was somewhere where I couldn't see mountains in any direction."

The Wagner campus is located about 20 minutes from Times Square.

"They took me over there for a bit and it was incredible," she said. "I know I'm a small-town girl, but I fell in love with the city."

She also liked the combination of size and exposure that Wagner offered with its track program.

"They're Division I but it's a smaller roster," she said. "I know I'll have a better chance to compete earlier there and I'll get more one-on-one time with the coaches."

Indeed, Wagner has only 17 athletes on its women's track roster, compared to 44 at Nevada.

"It's a smaller conference, a smaller school, but I'll still get the big school experience at the meets we get to go to," Gorton said. "It's a good combination."

Gorton said her leg is close to being fully-healed and she'll be ready for her senior track & field season when practice opens next month.

Wagner competes in the Northeast Conference which includes Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Farleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis (N.Y.) and Saint Francis (Pa.).