Hannan’s center fielder Logan Foster knew he wanted to attend the University of Kansas.
But it seemed that if the senior was to fulfill her dream of becoming a college athlete, she would have to go to another college. Then, one click on his football recruiting profile changed everything.
The 5-foot-10 elder signed on to become a rower for the Jayhawks in a ceremony at Hannan’s Heritage Hall on Jan. 24.
“It was pretty crazy,” Foster said, of how Michigan State first approached her before her senior season about rowing
“They’ve seen my soccer videos and they’ve seen my height and my strength. And they’ve asked me if I’ve ever thought about rowing before.”
The answer was no, but then he started considering sports.
“The more I looked into it, I thought I could do it,” Foster said. “The more I thought about it, I thought if I could make it at Michigan State, then I could make it at Kansas.”
He contacted the Jayhawks and the rest is history.
“They said it’s easier to teach someone who hasn’t done it before,” Foster said. “They have a lot of non-rowers on the team. They have a whole class of beginners. They teach you everything. They’re just fit and ready to work hard.”
And so a rower was born or, more precisely, recruited.
Foster’s future in Kansas is something of a homecoming. His family moved to Louisiana from Kansas when he was in second grade. The elder joked that she is ready for the seasons again. He is also maintaining a family tradition: his father earned his masters from Kansas.
But before heading north to study physical therapy, Foster said he has unfinished business on the soccer field. Hannan, the defending Division III state runner-up, is currently the No. 1 seed and looks set to make another run in the playoffs, which begin next week.
“I’m so excited about the rest of the football season,” Foster said. “I really want to go out with a bang this year. There’s definitely some unfinished business that gets to that state last year. But I think we’re in an excellent position to get back to it. This is my last hurrah because I’m not doing anymore.” club football”.
Hannan soccer coach John Dempsey said Foster’s upcoming move to rowing shows just how talented an athlete she is after playing four years of college soccer.
“It’s been a big part of the success we’ve had,” Dempsey said. “The dream of being a Division I athlete came out of soccer for her, but it’s a pretty interesting journey that she’s taken to get where she wants to be. She’s a fantastic athlete and a hard worker. And that’s why many of these rowers recruiting programs because it’s not a traditional youth sport.”
