Transitioning into college can be scary, so one can only imagine how scary it is to do it once more. Sophomore football players Kole Carter and Dartarvious Stanford, and senior track team members Hunter Mouser and Jason Coon shared their experiences transferring to campus and the success they have had academically and athletically.
Carter is a transfer from Morehead State University in Kentucky.
“I chose to transfer for both sports and education,” Carter said. “I saw an opportunity to play two sports.”
In addition to being a safety for the football team, Carter will be making his debut on the baseball roster as a pitcher this spring.
“I had three other colleges that I was thinking about,” Carter said. “Ohio Dominican, Tiffin and the Rio Grande.”
Carter said that he chose Capital because of the opportunities in greater Columbus area.
“I want to go into real estate, and I felt that Columbus would be able to provide me more internship opportunities, whereas Morehead was more in the middle of nowhere,” Carter said.
Since transferring, Carter has enjoyed his time on the football team.
“I love it here,” Carter said. “I like my coaches; it feels more one-on-one and a family feel.”
Carter started the 2017-2018 football season as a backup until making the starting lineup about six weeks in, against Otterbein University, where he ended the game with 13 tackles, two sacks, three and a half tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Stanford, a wide receiver on the team, is a transfer from Ohio Dominican University. Like Carter, Stanford came for the small campus in a big city.
“The transition has been good,” Stanford said. “Professors care about the students, and I love my coaches.”
Stanford is currently in the top 10 for touchdown catches from just one season.
When asked about his goals for next season, Stanford said, “To break some records.”
Some notable highlights from his first season include ranking #2 in receiving yards with 1,119 and ranking #9 in receptions with 63, 12 including touchdown receptions.
In addition, sports information director Ryan Gasser said, “Add one more season, and I’m confident he will be in top three of all Capital.”
Stanford received the first team all OAC selection, the first time since 2011.
Not only has the football team attracted talented students, track has done the same.
Mouser, senior track sprinter, transferred from Heidelberg University to be closer to home.
“I love Columbus area,” Mouser said. “So when I toured Capital and saw how close it was, I liked it,”
At an indoor meet back in March 2017, Mouser advanced in the 400-meter dash and went to nationals.
Mouser broke Capital’s record with the time 56.07 seconds.
Since at Capital, Mouser has been a 2017 indoor circuit qualifier and has won all region 2017 for the 400-meter dash.
Mouser was also an OAC third team performer as part of the 4 by 200-meter relay team and is a two time academic OAC selection.
On the men’s side of track, Coon transferred from Kansas State University.
“I had been on the track and field team at Kansas State for two years, and it just was not where I wanted to be,” Coon said. “I ended up in contact with a coach, and he offered me a place if I wanted to come. Everything just went smoothly academically and socially. I appreciate when people sympathize with the same ideology.”
Since starting track at Capital in the spring of 2016, Jason has ranked in the top 10 twice, being ranked #3 for outdoor shot put at 16.29 and #2 in the shot put indoor, just .4 meters away from the all-time record for the indoor circuit.
Jason ranked 10th in the country at NCAA D3 Nationals.
