After finishing his high school career with multiple trips to the podium in the Division III state track and field meet — including placing second in the 110-meter hurdles and also as part of his team’s 1600-meter relay — Mount Gilead graduate Connor Page will move on to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Page, who will major in aeronautics, felt that university would be the perfect way to jumpstart a future career.
“They’ve got one of the top aviation programs in the country and had a really nice campus,” he said, adding that he also looked at the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and Purdue University before choosing Embry-Riddle.
“Probably since the end of my junior year until a couple months into my senior year,” was how long he said the college search took.
Page added that, athletically, the Daytona Beach university also offers a lot.
“They’re Division II, so I could get some money and they’re pretty good in track,” he said.
Page, who will compete in the hurdling events at Embry-Riddle, noted that he started looking at college athletics as an option his junior year when his times in the 110s improved to the low 15-second range. He noted that his work to improve through high school taught him some valuable lessons to take to the next level.
“Lose with dignity and win with grace,” he said. “Everyone else works as hard as you, if not harder.”
The MG graduate is looking forward to a lot of things at Embry-Riddle.
“Living a mile from the beach,” he said, “and getting ready for my future career as a pilot.”
After a successful high school career, Page will have a lot of good memories to take with him to Florida.
“I will bring the knowledge I learned and all the good times I had here,” he said. “My friends won’t be down there, but I’ll try to communicate with them.”
