by Rusty Ellis
DeKalb County senior Kaleb Spears made his commitment to Milligan University official on Thursday, as the track runner signed his national letter of intent to run for the Buffalos post-graduation.
For Spears, he’s spent most of his young-adult life doing track and field, and he’s excited to see the hard work pay off.
“Today’s everything I’ve worked for since sixth grade when I started running,” Spears said. “I’m just super excited to get to do this and to be surrounded by friends and family…I chose Milligan because when I visited, it had that same small-town feel as DeKalb, so it just felt like the right place for me.”
Both DeKalb County coach Kristen VanVranken and Warren County head coach Jeremy Wilhelm have worked with Spears over the last couple of seasons through the program’s co-op, and they say it’s been a pleasure to see Spears’ growth and development since he began running.
“It’s pretty awesome, he’s just an exceptional student-athlete,” VanVranken said. “He’s done all of the things needed outside of practice to get himself to that level of competition…Milligan’s got a great program, it’s just really exciting for him.”
After former teammate Aaron Gottlied signed for Milligan last year, there’s some familiarity for DeKalb with the program they offer.
That gives both coaches plenty of reason to believe Spears will fit in nicely in East Tennessee.
“He’s got the size and frame and the strides that a lot of people don’t have,” Wilhelm said. “He broke a school record three times last season, and there’s still a lot of potential that he’s got that he’s still learning about. I think they can help him out and teach him more about using all of his tools.”
Spears has made plenty of memories running for DeKalb County the last couple years, and among the things he’ll miss are his teammates.
“Something I’ll miss the most are the friendships I’ve made here and the people I’ve grown up with,” Spears said. “At the collegiate level, I’m just excited to compete for four more years…I think I’ll be ready.”
