Freedom senior distance runner Lauren Charboneau mapped out her future course and signed a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 11 to run cross country and track at St. Joseph’s University.

“St. Joe’s track is right in the middle of campus. Cross country is at Belmont Plateau, Boathouse Row is 10 minutes away, and the Rocky Steps are 15 minutes away. Everything is super close,” Charboneau said.

Coached by Bob Thear at Freedom, Charboneau has been the Patriots’ top girl runner throughout her high school career.

Charboneau’s recruitment process began by letting St. Joe’s coach Melody O’Reilly know she was interested in becoming a future Hawk.

“I emailed her in February, and she started to recruit in July,” said Charboneau. “She asked me about my dreams and goals. She said she won’t pressure me to be a certain kind of runner but see what my strengths are.”

Charboneau visited St. Joe’s earlier this fall when current students were on campus. Although she also considered Lehigh, Lafayette, and Rider, among others, Charboneau had that gut feeling St. Joe’s was the one for her.

“It’s so pretty. I can see the Philly skyline. When I got there, I knew this was where I wanted to be for the next four years,” she said.

Charboneau is planning to major in biology and minor in Spanish on a pre-med track.

One of the biggest questions Charboneau had for her future teammates whom she met on Zoom was in reference to time management.

“They said it’s super easy. Practice is usually around [noon]. I’m just happy I can eat dinner at a normal time,” she laughed. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on the team in person, settling in, figuring out St. Joe’s and what I want to do with my life.”