On February 5, Linganore High School (LHS) senior Audrey Meadows signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her athletic and academic career at Frostburg State University, where she will be playing soccer.
Meadows believes her athletic experience in high school, combined with club soccer, has prepared her to face what is expected of her at the collegiate level.
Meadows feels that the coaches at LHS have encouraged her to be her best. Although she has some nerves, she feels ready to be playing at a higher level, while balancing her academics. She has a true passion with talent for the sport.
David Meadows, Audrey’s father, believes she will have no problem balancing academics and athletics at Frostburg
“[She] always kept up,” David Meadows said. “I’ve never really had to make her do her work or anything, so I know she would be great.”
Meadows has been the captain and a leader on the LHS team and a relentless worker.
The coaches at Frostburg have expressed to Meadows that they are looking forward to having her on their team.
Linganore art teacher Michael Heller is the varsity girls’ soccer coach. He had high praise for Meadows and the integral role she plays on their team.
“Audrey’s position is really the motor and the engine of our team,” Heller said. “If you meet her on the field, you’ll find a relentless competitor who wants nothing more than to kick your butt.”
Meadows has been playing soccer since she was approximately 5 years old, making this her thirteenth year playing soccer. In addition to playing soccer for Linganore, she has played for her club soccer team, FC Frederick.
While selecting which college she wanted to commit to, Meadows looked into Longwood University, other schools in the Virginia area, small Maryland schools and bigger schools, without the intention of playing soccer. None of these other options stood out to her the way that Frostburg did.
When Meadows visited Frostburg, she saw the environment and a chance to play soccer, and it made Frostburg feel like the right choice. She is planning to major in something health science-related but has not yet picked an exact major.
“I visited the school and saw their pregame stuff, and looked at the housing and stuff, and then I just liked it more than the other schools I looked at,” Audrey Meadows said.
Meadows’ parents both attended Frostburg, so they were quite excited to see Meadow’s choice to commit to their alma mater.
“That’s where her dad and I went to school,” said Andrea Meadows, Audrey’s mother. “So, we were excited that’s what she chose, but we didn’t think that was her choice from the beginning, but we were happy… It makes it nice that we know it [Frostburg], and it’s not far away.”
The coaches at Frostburg had showed interest in Meadows and were ready to recruit her to their team.
“And I know coach Parker is looking forward to having Audrey on this team as she continues her play career at Frostburg State University,” said Heller.
Meadows had a lot of support behind her in her athletic career, including her parents driving and picking her up from practices, encouraging her, helping in academics and watching her at games.
“My biggest supporters [are] probably my parents because they’re the ones like always pushing me [to] like respond to college emails and do all that stuff when I didn’t want to,” Meadows said.
Meadows’ parents are definitely ready for her to start this new chapter of her life, and they know that she is going to achieve amazing things; yet, they expressed that they will miss not having her around all of the time.
“[It’s] bittersweet,” said David Meadows. “I’m really excited for [her,] and I know she’s looking forward to it, but I obviously have enjoyed watching her over the years playing. So, I’m going to miss those times but look forward to watching [her] in college.”
