Seaman's Kobuszewski commits to Washburn after atypical recruitment

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Madison Kobuszewski is set to continue her track and field career at Washburn University in the fall, but her recruitment was a little different than most.

She graduated from Seaman High School in 2023, then took a gap year to decide between pursuing dance, powerlifting or track and field. Kobuszewski spent most of the year working at Texas Roadhouse and saving money before eventually landing on track.

"I'm really excited to meet all the new people and to pursue track and to just get going with that because I've been so here, there, everywhere with sports," Kobuszewski said. "I'm really excited to stick with just track and really focus on that."

The new 'Bod always envisioned herself going to college out of state, but the closer she got to decision-time, the better staying at home started to sound.

The combo of wanting to stay in Topeka and pursue track led her to reach out to Washburn head track and field coach Cameron Babb herself. She got his contact information from a few Seaman friends who are already on the team at WU.

Those conversations opened the door for one-on-one practice sessions with Coach, and before too long, the rest of the pieces fell into place.

"I was a little nervous at first that he wouldn't be open to it since I didn't go straight to college after that, but he was really open to it," Kobuszewski said. "And just with more conversations and one-on-one times, we just decided for me to commit there."

The former Viking will compete in the long jump for now, her other events will be determined after she begins working out with the team.