FREEPORT, Fla. (WMBB) – Freeport’s Logan Dunaway signed to run cross country for the Marion Military Institute on Thursday.
Marion Military is a two-year college in Alabama.
This signing made history for the school as Dunaway is the first cross country runner to head to the next level from Freeport.
“It just lets them realize that this is a possibility for them,” Freeport head cross country coach Jared Smallwood said. “Going through school, they might say well I may not run in college, well now they know someone who is running in college who got a college scholarship, it’s not just something kids from bigger schools can get. You can be at a 1A school and still be able to run good, run fast and get good times and go to college for it.”
Dunaway was an impressive athlete for the Bulldogs. He was the first runner to go to state in nine years for the team after setting a personal record of 17:41.
However, he didn’t initially think he would go to college for cross country.
“I didn’t know about this college opportunity until after the season. What kept me going was the perseverance of wanting to be in shape, keep going and it’s something I was good at,” Dunaway said.
He said he’s excited to go to a school that offers so much to their students.
“I was looking at it and they have such a good variety of everything there, academics wise they are pretty cool,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway’s family and friends were there to see him sign, but his future college coach was also in the audience.
“For me it’s a lot more about work ethic than it is the times. But he did have some solid times with some growth over the last few years especially from junior to senior year where it dropped some so I thought there was an opportunity for additional growth,” Marion Military Institute head cross country coach Chad Balentine said.
Dunaway plans to join the Coast Guard after his time at the school.
