(Above, Alexis Prenzlin, center, signs her Letter of Intent to swim at Penn State University on Monday, while parents Ronelle, left, and Mark, right, look on.)
FREMONT – Long before she even joined the Fremont Ross program, Alexis Prenzlin felt as though she belonged in a pool. And after qualifying for the state swim meet as a freshman, Prenzlin began realizing she had the makings to be a collegiate swimmer.
And ever since then, all she has done is back up that belief with elite performance.
Monday afternoon, Prenzlin did what had long become inevitable, signing on to continue her swim career collegiately and doing so at the biggest level there is, in the Big Ten Conference, at Penn State University.
Alexis Prenzlin
“It’s amazing. I wanted to swim in college for a really long time,” Prenzlin said. “Once I found Penn State, I knew that was the college I wanted to go. It was perfect for me, with the major and the swim program. To be able to sign there and make it official, makes it 100 times better to know where my future is going.”
If the past is any indication, her future as a Nittany Lion is going to be bright.
A three-year state meet qualifier, Prenzlin’s trophy case includes the 2018 Three Rivers Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year award, a fifth-place finish in the state breaststroke last year as well as a seventh-place finish as part of the 200 medley relay team.
She holds the Lady Giant programs records in the breaststroke and as part of the 200 medley team as well as the district meet records in both events.
“Lexi is tremendous worker,” coach Phil Moran said. “You don’t get to where you’re at without putting the time in to get there. She’s also extremely gifted and talented.
“She’s been a tremendous asset to this team. Breaststroke is one of those events here you either got it or you don’t got it,” he added. “Even when she was a little, tiny kid, and now she’s just a bigger tiny kid, that breaststroke set her apart.”
Alexis Prenzlin swims in the 100 breatstroke during a meet her junior season.
The breaststroke, and her performance in the 200 following after last year’s state meet, Moran said, put Prenzlin on Penn State’s radar. Quickly, it became apparent to be Prenzlin’s future home.
“I went on two visits, after my official visit, I knew that was where I wanted to go and I committed that week,” she said.
Moran believes Prenzlin could step into Penn State’s lineup now. When she actually does so, he says her potential to continue to improve is high.
“I think any college program at the D-I level, the kids she gets to train with are a little different,” he said. “Instead of her being one of the top swimmers here, she has a whole level of top swimmers to swim with. The intensity level with which they train, the access to strength and conditioning coaches you have at a Big Ten school, all those things are going to add in to help her.”
Prenzlin carries a 3.85 Grade-Point Average and said she plans to study forensic science.
“I haven’t completely decided between being a pathologist, which is more in the lab, or being a CSI agent and being on the scene,” Prenzlin said. “Between those two is where I’m at.”