Senior Paloma Hancock, a 4-year Cougar cross country and track and field veteran, has committed to continue her athletic and academic career at Johns Hopkins University. 

Hancock, who hopes to become an anesthesiologist, was attracted to Johns Hopkins because of its top-notch Pre-Med program. Prepscholar.com recently ranked Johns Hopkins’ Pre-Med program #2, behind Harvard University. 

“Even though it sounds a little overwhelming, I think I am up for the challenge and I couldn’t be more grateful for this experience and this opportunity and I couldn’t let it slip away from me,” said Hancock. 

Campolindo cross country assistant coach Andy Lindquist, who has worked with Hancock for the last 4 years, said that her future plans will be a “challenging road,” but the cross country team has “had other athletes in previous years do similar things at the college level in terms of balancing a very hard academic course load and athletic course load, so I think she is ready to do something like that.” 

Team culture and dynamics played a major role in Hancock’s final decision. “At Campolindo cross country, our team culture is really awesome. Johns Hopkins had such a similar team culture and I really thought that I fit in better there than at other schools that I visited,” said Hancock. 

According to Lindquist, Johns Hopkins’ cross country is among the best Division 3 programs in the country. They have won the Division 3 NCAA cross country championship 5 times in the last decade. 

“It’s a little overwhelming just because I already know academically it’s gonna be a challenge, but I think running for Campo cross country has prepared me in terms of being able to balance a rigorous schedule both academically and athletically,” said Hancock. 

Junior Sophie Webster, who has run along side Hancock for the past 2 seasons, is proud of her teammate’s achievement. “I am sad that she is going to be so far away. But I am really excited for her, that she is able to go to such an amazing school. I think it is a great choice for her,” said Webster.