Aiken High cross country and track standout Mimi Inman’s rationale was as straightforward as the stretch run in any one of the many races she has run in her high school career.
With everything she needed for college just around the corner, why leave?
Surrounded by her coaches and family members recently at Aiken High’s James A. Taylor Activities Center, Inman signed a national letter of intent to run cross-country for the USC Aiken Pacers.
“There is just no point in going away to college when we have such a wonderful university right down the road,” Mimi stated after signing. “I want to thank my coaches for everything they have done to help me. They have been an inspiration to me and I would not be here without them.”
Aiken High Cross Country Head Coach Roger Carpenter said he has watched with pride as Inman has developed from a shy freshman to a determined senior team leader.
“She was a good runner as a freshman, but she didn’t have the self-confidence then that she does now,” Carpenter commented. “We wanted to her to try and be a little bit more assertive and she has certainly done that as a senior and team captain where she will get onto folks who are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. She just kept getting faster and building her confidence and we are very proud of her and what she has accomplished.”
USC Aiken Cross Country Coach Kara Kinard said what attracted her to Inman was the possibility of adding the senior’s solid combination of talent and drive to her Pacers team.
“It was really her dedication to the sport and the way she is already helping to train her teammates, she is very self-motivated and she just loves running,” Kinard stated. “She loves to read about running, talk about running and she loves to run. That type of passion and self-motivation was something that we needed on our team.”
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2017 PR AIKEN HIGH MIMI INMAN SIGNS
CUTLINE INFO: Seated, from left, are Brooke Inman (Sister), Bill Inman (Dad), Mimi Inman, and Mimi Inman (Mom – Mimi and her mother share a same first name). Standing, from left, are USC Aiken Cross Country Coach Kara Kinard, Aiken High Cross Country Assistant Coach Michelle Keklac, Aiken High Cross Country Coach Roger Carpenter, and Aiken High Cross Country Assistant Coach Bradley Verenes.