Pinecrest senior and 9X NCHSAA 4A Champion Carmen Alder has announced her verbal commitment to Brigham Young University (BYU)! Alder has been a dominant force over her career at Pinecrest, she is the coming into the cross country season as the 2X defending state champion. With no Indoor Season this year, sadly, Alder will finish her Indoor Career with two 1600m state championships and another two in the 3200m. She will enter this outdoor season as the defending 1600m state champion and was runner-up in the 3200m last season as well. Her sophomore season she completed the 1600/3200m double at the state meet being victorious in both. Alder comes from an elite running family. (Read our 2018 feature on the Alder's here). In fact, both of her parents ran for BYU, something that was important to her.
"Since both of my parents ran for BYU, it was a logical choice for me to follow in their footsteps. Not only because of my parents did I choose to go to BYU, but because of their incredible reputation of their Women's coach, Coach Diljeet Taylor. I watched Coach Taylor on some videos online and read some of the articles written about her and I was very impressed with her personality and the team culture that she has fostered."
"I was only able to talk with Coach Taylor on a limited basis. I basically was able to talk to her to tell her that I was verbally committing to run for BYU. It would have been nice to have the full recruiting experience, but I am happy that I will be going to BYU."
"I want to see our Pinecrest Team on the podium at the State XC Meet. We have a lot of new athletes that are running for the team and I am excited about this season. I would like to get my best time on the state XC course and get ready for, hopefully, an almost normal and exciting outdoor track season!"
"I was disappointed that I couldn't run outdoor track last school year becasue I was looking forward to running with my sister, Vanessa. One of the most positive things I have experienced is having time to focus on the things that matter most: my family, my health, and my goals."
"I'm a huge pie fan and have gotten pretty good at making apple pie during the quarantine"