The paths of Petronela Simiuc and Stephanie Sherman to the University of Toledo and the NCAA Division I track and field championships are divergent, circuitous, and not without pixie dust.
The senior runners didn’t just complete improbable journeys to the national meet, their presence at Toledo was just as unlikely.
Simiuc transferred to UT from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in her native Romania, but only after coach Adrian Ghioroaie, who attempted to recruit Simiuc to Auburn, where he previously worked, convinced her to become a Rocket. Sherman, a four-time state qualifier in cross country at Notre Dame Academy, jokes that she begged Toledo’s previous coaching staff to join the team, emailing them as a high school senior.