D3 Week - Nicholas Carlson, GAC

April 6-12, 2015, is NCAA Division III Week. To continue the MIAC's celebration, the MIAC Media Blog welcomes Gustavus student-athlete Nicholas Carlson to share his experience.

Four years, three sports, one great experience

By Nicholas Carlson, Gustavus Adolphus College

My involvement with Division three athletics has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. Coming into college I only had the desire to play football for Gustavus. But as the year went on I found myself not enjoying it as much and being at a D3 school this gave me the opportunity to explore different sports.

Nicholas Carlson

During my freshmen year I competed on both the football and the baseball teams, respectively. I met a lot of great people competing on these two separate teams. As my sophomore year came around I decided to retire from the football team and focus my energy and effort on baseball, being that it was my favorite sport. So then came my tryout sophomore year for baseball and after a few days of trying to prove myself I ended up being cut from the baseball team. I was crushed because I had put a lot of off-season work into my tryout but it just wasn't enough.

At this point I still wanted to compete because I felt like I had the drive to compete, so my best friend encouraged me to go out for the Track and Field team for Gustavus. Being that I had a strong background in running, lifting and a lot of athletic experience. Having the opportunity to compete for the track team at GAC was a blessing to say the least. So far I have made the conference meet every indoor and outdoor season as well as being on the top relay teams. Track also showed me I could still throw things and enjoy it. The track team introduced me to the javelin and I have found success in an event that I have never heard of before.

The best part of it all was that for my senior year I was elected as Captain of the GAC track team. I never would have thought I was going to have this great opportunity to lead my teammates and friends. My D3 experience has been a humbling and challenging experience to say the least. D3 has shown me that if you want to succeed all you have to do is keep trying and persevere through the adversity that comes your way.

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