Most students continuing their athletics career at a college or university are celebrated with a public signing day on campus, however, this was not the case for senior Amelia Jauregui.

Despite COVID-19 throwing a roadblock in her plans, Amelia and her family decided to still hold her signing day Wednesday.

“The signing process was actually a lot different than I was expecting,” Amelia said. “Technically I already signed my National Letter of Intent in January when I went to campus when I went to go up there for a second time but I never expected to have my little celebration at home. However, I thought it was really special because I got to celebrate it with my family who have been there for me since the beginning when I started running. So that was really cool.”

Amelia will be continuing her cross country and track career at Oklahoma State University in the fall.

“I picked the school because I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the opportunities that were presented at the school,” Amelia said. “Without athletics, it’s somewhere where I would be happy to be educationally but also athletically, there were a lot of neat opportunities, a lot of great people there that really just helped make my decision. It was really the community aspect of the school that helped me decide there.”

Gathering special words from grandparents, an elementary school PE teacher, former cross country coach Lauren Zambiasi and track coach Chip Gregory, Amelia’s parents looked to make the day special.

“Well I was really excited about the official signing day that Amelia was going to have at school. I think we tried to mimic that experience as much as we could,” dad CJ Jauregui said. “Get all the gear and try to make it as special as we could. Everything that should be happening right now across the world is different. It does break my heart a little bit, especially for people that are at the end of journies like seniors in high school and college. It’s still special regardless of how many people are there to celebrate. I think ultimately that was the goal. It’s a great accomplishment that we are very proud of Amelia for and just wanted her to know that.”

For her mom, Courtney Jauregui, their visit to OSU as well as the recruitment process was memorable.

“It was a lot of fun,” Courtney. “I had the good fortune of getting to go on the visits with Amelia and really talking with her through the whole process. A real highlight for me was when we were leaving Oklahoma State after her official visit and she basically knew that that was the choice for her. It’s been exciting, it’s been a little bit stressful but we are really really excited for Amelia.”

While this time was supposed to be amid track season, Amelia has not let circumstances impact her work out routine in preparation for collegiate athletics.

“Staying in shape, I have been continuing to run. I have been staying on a pretty consistent schedule of running,” Amelia said. “I’ve been running most everyday and trying to continue doing ab workouts and body weight exercises and stuff. In order to stay in shape for college, I’ve been trying to get my mileage up because cross country will be coming sooner. I’m trying to stay consistent and stay active during this time. It’s not exactly what I expected considering it should still be track season but I’m just doing what I can to stay in shape.”