By Christine Beal, West Potomac High School, Student Activities

West Potomac senior Sarah Jane Underwood has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and run for Penn State University.  Underwood has run varsity track and cross-country for West Potomac since her freshmen year, lettering and earning All-District honors for each season and being named team MVP seven times.  In cross-country, Underwood was named to the All-District team all four years and earned All-Region honors three times.  She also served as a team captain for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, leading the Lady Wolverines to back to back Patriot District Titles, as well as the 2011 Northern Region Title. 

On the track Underwood has continued to excel and has been a captain her junior and senior years.  In addition to her 17 All-District honors and 13 All-Region honors, Underwood set a new Patriot District record in the 1000m en route to winning the title this year.  She has also won three consecutive Northern Region Titles in the 1000m and last year anchored the girls 4x800m to a State Championship. In addition, Underwood has been named All-State eleven times in track and is the West Potomac school record holder in the 800m, 1000m and 1600m.

Underwood shines on and off the track.  She is a member of the National and Spanish Honor Societies, has been a Girl Scout for the past twelve years, and has been awarded numerous civic awards.  She has a GPA of 4.27 and was recently named West Potomac's Female Scholar Athlete for the 2012 winter season.