Audra Puckrin wore a lot of hats as a member of the Geneva track team. She could be in for more of the same as a member of the University of Toledo’s team as well.
Puckrin, the daughter of Randy and Rhonda Puckrin, will run track for the Rockets while chasing a degree in pre-dentistry.
“When I first started looking at schools, there were only three that had my major, Ohio State, Toledo and Cincinnati,” Puckrin said. “At Ohio State, I was only accepted to the regional campus and I never visited Cincinnati. When I visited Toledo, I met with the coach and he said he’d love to have me. I was pretty much set on Toldeo (after that).”
Having finished second in the long jump at the 2011 Division II Ohio State Track and Field Championships was not enough to convince Puckrin she was a Division I track athlete.
“I was kind of surprised,” she said. “I had only competed in state at Division II. I didn’t think I was a Division I (college athlete) until the coach started talking to me about what I could do at Toledo. That’s when I started thinking more about it.”
In her days as an Eagle, Puckrin had competed in 12 of the 17 events contested in a track meet. In college, she could do much the same thing — in a single meet.
“The track coach and I were talking and he said since I’m so flexible in my events, that could put me in the heptathlete category,” Puckrin said. “I haven’t chosen my events or thought about what will happen yet, but that would be possible.”
During her high school career, Puckrin competed in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, the 800-meter run, the long jump, high jump and pole vault and the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays at least once.
“That just for the team,” Puckrin said. “I was also trying to make a mark in as many events as possible so the coaches could see if I would be good for the heptathlon.”
There’s at least one event Puckrin knows she will have a good chance to make a splsh in from Day One.
“I know there are only a few who can jump 19 or 20 feet (in the long jump),” she said. “That’s probably my future. I don’t know how the sprints and hurdles will work yet.”
A three-sport standout athlete at Geneva, Puckrin chose track for a very simple reason.
“I wanted to do volleyball my first couple years of high school,” Puckrin, who also played basketball, said. “I started to see some bigger opportunities in track so it really wasn’t that hard a choice.”
Puckrin could get scholarship money, but that is not a certainty at this point.
“I got a few scholarships from around here,” she said. “I still have to talk to the coach (at Toledo). He said with what I jump, I’d be eligible. We haven’t talked about it much.”
When many children were shying away from appointments with a dentist, Puckrin was embracing chances to sit in the chair. Eventually it dawned on her a career could be in there somewhere.
“I always liked going to the dentist,” she said. “I like the way the dentist works. Fixing people’s teeth just seemed like something I would like to do.”
It will take Puckrin roughly eight years of schooling to reach her chosen profession.
“I’m pretty set on this,” she said. “I think I will follow it all the way through.”
It wasn’t always clear to Puckrin, though, what she wanted to do when she grew up.
“I just chose that (as a major) my senior year,” she said. “Up until my senior year, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was sitting around and thought I really love getting my teeth cleaned, I think I would enjoy that as a career.”
Being a Division I athlete and pursuing a degree in pre-dentistry might not seem like a good mix, especially when it comes to mainating a certain grade-point average. But Puckrin feels like she has that covered.
“I think being an athlete helps me,” she said. “If you can’t be a good student, you can’t be on a team. It makes you want to do well in school.”
Having competed under volleyball coach Annah Haeseler, basketball coach Nancy Barbo and track coach Bobby McQuoid at Geneva, Puckrin knows she was fortunate.
“All of my coaches in every sport were proabably the best I’ve ever had,” she said. “They prepare us better than any coach I’ve heard of or seen. They really know what they’re talking about. They prepare us unbelievebly well at Geneva, that’s for sure.”
Having the support of her family has helped, too.
“My mom, dad and grandma have probably been at every game or meet since kindergarten,” Puckrin said. “I don’t ever remember them not being there. Before state, my put up a sign by the freeway. My grandma makes sure I have Gatorade. My mom always supports me.”
Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.
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