Spring Grove track and field star fulfills dream with Ivy League scholarship – York Daily Record
Ten YAIAA track and field titles.
Eight District 3 Class 3A titles.
Five PIAA titles and eight medals overall.
Add it together and it equals a college athletic scholarship for Spring Grove senior Ella Bahn. And not just any scholarship. This one is wrapped in Ivy.
Bahn is going to trade the blue and white of the Rockets for the orange and brown of the Princeton Tigers.
“It’s a relief to have the decision made and done with,” Bahn said hours after running her last District 3 cross country race. “I love the team environment at Princeton. The coaches are very communicative and there are so many opportunities there, both academically and athletically.”
She isn’t exactly sure what to study at Princeton. But it will have something to do with the environment. Environmental engineering and ecology and evolutionary biology are at the top of the list of possible majors.
Bahn had Princeton and the University of Colorado/Boulder on her short list. As expected, each school had its pros and cons.
She liked the staff and track and field athletes at both schools. She liked the facilities at both schools.
Colorado offers the ability to train at high altitude in the kind of environment that’s hard to find anywhere else in the country. But her family can’t hop in a car and get to a meet.
Princeton is an easy drive away. It’s in a completely different environment. And by Bahn’s own admission, it’s a little intimidating.
In the end, the real difference was money. Princeton could offer an athletic scholarship. Colorado couldn’t.
“Colorado had a head coaching switch a couple of years ago and they went in a different direction,” Bahn said. “They couldn’t offer money for athletics, and with out-of-state tuition, I couldn’t do it.”
So, she’s going to a school with high academic standards whose track and field program is among the best in the Ivy League. A program that won the league title in 2025.
Bahn’s decision fulfills a dream she has had since she started competing in track and field in seventh grade. Success in her first season led to a goal of going to a Division I or Ivy League school.
She owns YAIAA titles at 200, 400 and 800 meters, hurdles and high jump. But it is the hurdles and high jump where she found her niche in District 3 and PIAA meets.
Bahn has won the 100 and 300 hurdles titles in three consecutive district meets. She is the defending state champ in the 100 hurdles and three-time champion in the 300 hurdles.
She won a pair of district high jump titles and finished second last year despite only jumping once before the postseason meet. She medaled in the PIAA high jump all three years and won the title as a sophomore.
Not one to specialize, Bahn prefers branching out. She only recently stopped participating in gymnastics, which she credits with helping her diving and high jumping. She ran cross country all four years to increase her endurance.
And she will need that endurance at Princeton. While she will still run the 100 hurdles at the next level, the 300 in high school turns into 400 in college. She has run that distance several times at national meets and enjoys the challenge.
“The hurdles are what the coaches want me to focus on at Princeton,” Bahn said. “But they are interested that I can also do high jump.”
Now that her decision is made, Bahn is looking forward to a relaxing winter to prepare for her final high school track and field season. She’s not going to dive again. “It was fun for a year and I’m glad I did it,” she said.
And she doesn’t have gymnastics to keep her busy. She might run an indoor track meet or two, but nothing has been scheduled.
Her main focus is going to be on rock climbing two or three times a week. She knows the activity helps build her core in addition to working on flexibility and strength.
“I can run fast, so I can go to Princeton,” Bahn said. “It’s a privilege to have that opportunity.”
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter @ShelStallsmith.
