Jessie Drogemuller could have followed in her brother Brandon’s
footsteps. The elder of the two siblings signed a letter of intent
to Lewis University in 2009, and Jessie was looking at the Illinois
school for a possible family reunion.
”
But I decided to be a little different,
”
Drogemuller said recently while on the swim deck at San Benito
High, the site of the senior swimmer’s signing celebration.
Although she plans on officially signing a letter of intent in the
upcoming weeks, she was able to spend Friday, May 6, with her
friends and teammates while conducting a faux signing to Notre Dame
College in South Euclid, Ohio.
HOLLISTER
Jessie Drogemuller could have followed in her brother Brandon’s footsteps. The elder of the two siblings signed a letter of intent to Lewis University in 2009, and Jessie was looking at the Illinois school for a possible family reunion.
“But I decided to be a little different,” Drogemuller said recently while on the swim deck at San Benito High, the site of the senior swimmer’s signing celebration.
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Although she plans on officially signing a letter of intent in the upcoming weeks, she was able to spend Friday, May 6, with her friends and teammates while conducting a faux signing to Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio.
“When I got to Notre Dame, I knew that was the one,” Drogemuller said. “That was where I wanted to go.”
It wasn’t just one thing for Drogemuller, either. She was looking for a smaller school to attend (check) and one that offered the major she was interested in studying, communications and creative writing (check), while the fact that the school is moving from an NAIA standing to Division II next season didn’t hurt, either.
Following a one-year probationary period, Drogemuller said, the school will be able to compete in the NCAA Division II Championships, leaving open the possibility that Drogemuller and her brother Brandon could enjoy a family reunion, after all.
“I just felt really comfortable,” Drogemuller said. “The program that they have seemed to fit really well.”
Admittedly experiencing a case of senioritis, it was Drogemuller’s mother, Michelle, who initially began researching schools. But the San Benito senior quickly joined in on the college hunt, searching for schools, and swim teams, where the soon-to-be grad would fit in.
It was eventually narrowed down to five schools, one of which was Notre Dame College, one of which was Lewis University.
“I went and visited. It’s a nice school with a nice program,” Drogemuller said of Lewis. “It would have been fun to have gone to school with my brother, but it wasn’t what I wanted.”
She had already attended school with her brother, too — high school, that is.
Other schools in the top five included Linfield College in Oregon, Lindenwood University in Missouri and Union College in Kentucky.
While driving her brother out to Lewis in Illinois last year, though, Drogemuller and her mother visited the schools, set up meetings with the coaches, but eventually made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame.
“We were trying to find a good team where I would fit in,” Drogemuller said.
“They’re pretty good, too, around my times,” she added. “The team was bigger than I expected.”
Drogemuller is expected to compete in the middle-distance to distance freestyles in college, particularly the 200 and 500 yards, although is also looking in to competing in the 1,000 yards next year as well.
And if all goes to plan, she may just meet her brother again at the Division II National Championships.
“If I end up going to nationals, that would be my brother’s senior year,” Drogemuller said of Brandon, who, as a sophomore at Lewis, recently earned All-America Honorable Mention in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle, as well as All-America in the 1650 freestyle.
“That would be really nice,” she added.
