Spring Grove's Laila Campbell is headed to the SEC. Here's what led to her decision

Laila Campbell knew the "feeling" when she had it. However, she kept having that feeling a lot.

She learned early in the recruitment process that all top colleges know how to impress a student-athlete. The fancy dining halls, state-of-the-art training facilities and packed football stadiums ... it all became so common it was overwhelming.

So the Spring Grove track and field superstar had tried to take emotion out of the equation. Which school had the academic and athletic track record to help her reach her goals?

It ended up being the one she had been leaning toward for close to a year.

Campbell verbally committed to LSU over the weekend. She'll be able to formally sign and accept a full scholarship with the SEC school in November.

"It really felt like home," she said. "When I had my visit they were able to answer all of my questions in-depth. They seemed like they were really trying to help me."

A six-time PIAA gold medalist, Campbell started visiting schools last September. By the end of November, she had zeroed in on Kentucky, USC, Georgia and LSU as her main contenders.

Coaching changes at USC and Kentucky made her narrow her search even more. Ultimately, academics were the difference. Campbell wants to be a residential architect, and LSU has bachelor's and master's programs in that field. Georgia only offers landscape architecture as a major.

Still, Campbell definitely had athletic motivation when making her decision. The LSU women's track and field team has won 14 outdoor team national championships — with the last one coming in 2008. A number of their runners — including Muna Lee, Neisha Bernard-Thomas, Natoya Goule and Aleia Hobbs — have gone from individual NCAA champions to Olympians.

"I think they can help me get to the Olympics," Campbell said. "I know their training, and it's more volume than I do now, but it's going to make me better.

"It was overwhelming at times because I had so many eyes on me every time I ran. I had to focus on my goals and remind myself I'm not running for anyone else. I'm running for me."

Finding competition

Campbell's accomplishments since entering high school speak for themselves.

As a freshman, she set YAIAA and District 3 records before winning state titles in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She duplicated those feats as a sophomore and added her first state record — 11.55 seconds in the 100.

As a junior this past season, Campbell did more of the same. She won two more state titles — making her six-for-six in PIAA events in her career. She came 0.02 away from breaking the state record in the 200.

She still hasn't lost a race at the league, District 3 or state level.

Those feats have become so common they can seem almost boring to casual observers. But the challenge for Campbell has been finding new ways to push herself on a bigger scale while still winning state-wide races.

"The toughest thing has been finding competition on a daily basis," said Brian Campbell, Laila's father and Spring Grove head coach. "I knew she could get to the (Division I level) because she has the talent, and she's had the work ethic from the beginning. But she can go a whole season without running a competitive race unless we take her to an invitational in Baltimore. That is what's hard to develop."

Those are some great marks: York-Adams track and field records go back more than 40 years

Learn more about Campbell: How a kid from Spring Grove became one of the country's best runners

Brian Campbell said he purchased a 1080 Sprint device this season to give Spring Grove's athletes elite-level resistance training. But he credited Rockets athletic director Jeff Laux for creating an environment that allows Laila to be flexible with her training schedule. Sometimes Laila will run less events at a league meet in order to be ready for a weekend invitational.

Brian said that flexibility has allowed her to find success at Spring Grove without feeling the need to transfer to a prep school.

The approach seems to be working. Campbell has won national titles in the 100-meter dash at the New Balance National outdoor track and field championships the past two summers. She recently qualified for Team USA's U20 400-meter relay pool that will compete at the Pan Am Championships in Puerto Rico next month. From a team standpoint, Spring Grove still finished second at the District 3 Class 3A meet this season.

"We've got great facilities, but the unique approach allows me to balance school goals while understanding we still need to prioritize her individual development," Brian Campbell said. "A lot of elite athletes are changing schools, but Laila hasn't needed to do that because of the support she has."

Taking a breath

Laila hasn't had much time to "slow down" over the past year.

It's been a constant stream of training, races and recruitment trips. That was the main reason she got her official college visits done last fall rather than waiting for this summer or fall. And the reason she wanted to commit before the start of her senior season.

After her trip to Puerto Rico from Aug. 4 to 6, she's looking forward to taking a few weeks to relax before the start of school.

"This has been a long season. It was probably my longest yet," she said. "I saw a lot of seniors taking their visits last fall, and they were rushing to get to a different one every weekend. Then you don't have a chance to think about it as much."

Campbell hasn't had much time to let her decision sink in, but she credited her family and training partners for helping her reach this point. Her father agreed that it's been hard to find time to reflect, but he admitted he had an emotional moment when he read Campbell's social media post announcing her commitment to LSU.

"I was with some other athletes I coach, and I started choking up in the middle of reading it," Brian said. "I had to have a parent read it to me. It hit me emotionally, but once Laila has another race, then it's time to get ready again."

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Spring Grove sprinter Laila Campbell commits to LSU track and field