Efraimson unlikely to run for Camas as senior
By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor
EUGENE -- Alexa Efraimson is still formulating a plan for her future but it now seems certain that she has run her final race in a Camas High School singlet. Instead, she may choose a similar route to Mary Cain.
Efraimson, as reported by The Oregonian, has college scholarship offers from Oregon, Stanford and Washington.
The NXN champion and senior-to-be will run for the U.S. in the World Junior Championships this week at Hayward Field in the 1,500 meters. She was a bronze medalist at the World Youth Championnships in 2013 in the Ukraine.
All along through a sensational junior track season that included a new national high school record in the 1,600 meters and No. 2 all-time in the 1,500 meters, Efraimson has said that she will follow the path that allows her to progess as an athlete toward her goal of becoming an elite Olympic-caliber athlete.
The only serious competition that Efraimson faced in 2014 came in fields where that included professionals, and in the U.S. Junior 1,500 meters final, where she faced Elise Cranny.
But Cranny will be off to Stanford in the fall and Efraimson may be close to following in the footsteps of Cain, who circumvented the NCAA system by choosing to turn professional and select a college for reasons unconnected to athletics.
Cain said Monday at the World Juniors press conference that she was planning to choose Chemistry as her major at the University of Portland. She said she was thinking about loading up her first semester with 19 credits and then softening her schedule in the winter when her track schedule heats up.
At UP, Cain will be about a 20-25 minute drive from the Nike campus. She may do some of her workouts there or at tracks closer to where she will live.
Efraimson's long-term plan is still being discussed. What's certain is that she will continue to be coached by Mike Hickey in the upcoming year (and probably beyond). Hickey has college coaching experience at Portland State and Clark College (a community college in Vancouver, Wash.), and coached at Camas High School during Efraimson's freshman and sophomore years.
Last year, Hickey left Camas for Clark College and the high school hired a new coach. However, the Efraimsons retained Hickey to serve as a personal coach and he has continued to guide her training. Recently, Hickey stepped down at Clark with the intention of devoting more time to Efraimson and other athletes.
By leaving the Camas team, Efraimson will be free to pursue competitive opportunities of her choosing that don't conflict with the team's schedule. As it was, Efraimson more often raced against the clock than the competition.