Apollo senior Madison Julian signed as a two-sport athlete with Oakland City University during a ceremony Wednesday, announcing that she’ll continue her softball career in addition to running cross country.
Madison had long dreamed of playing softball at the collegiate level and recently picked up a joy for competitive running. She ran cross country at Apollo for the first time this season, and Oakland City asked if she’d be interested in competing in both sports.
“I was completely and utterly shocked,” she said of being asked to run. “I never thought I’d be running in college. I just did it because I couldn’t play soccer anymore. It was a big blessing.”
Stephen Julian, Madison’s father and high school coach, got choked up when talking about how proud he was of his daughter.
“It’s always been a goal for her to play. Just getting the opportunity to play in college is exciting,” he said. “From a dad’s standpoint, you just say wow. From a coach’s standpoint, you see a kid work really hard and achieving one of her goals, one of her dreams.”
Madison said she felt like Oakland City offered the best package to continue both her academic and athletic endeavors.
“It felt like the perfect place,” she said. “It has all my major and minors, and I get to play both sports. It was a dream come true. I’m hoping that it works out. I know it’s going to be hard, but I feel like it’s going to help me meet more people and become a better player in both sports.”
Though she’s only one of a big group that’s helped lead Apollo to success in recent season, Madison has certainly played a key part.
She was the go-to pitcher last year, recording 11 of the team’s 16 wins with a 3.86 ERA. Offensively she led the team with a .407 batting average, also droving in 21 runs.
“Hopefully she’ll be one of our top hitters again and be that senior leader on the field,” Stephen said. “I don’t have to coach her that much. She’s been around the game so long. Hopefully it just leads onto the field this year.”
Though she’s had her own success, Madison said she’s grateful for what the team has accomplished at Apollo.
“I’ve gotten to play with a great group of girls and for great coaches,” she said. “We’ve all grown up playing together. Getting to experience this amazing program and going to regionals so many times, being able to do that with them has been amazing.”
As she prepares for her final season with the E-Gals, Madison is hoping for one final deep run in the postseason.
“We have a really, really good group of girls,” she said. “We have eight seniors that have been contributing multiple years to the program. We have a bunch of underclassmen and with their help we should be able to get to a region championship. I’m really looking forward to it.”
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