Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Isaac Fischer signs his National Letter of Intent as his family looks on to compete in track and field at Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday morning.

MARSHALL – With a small group of his family, friends, teammates and coaches standing by, Isaac Fischer took the next step to his athletic career with a quick scribble of the pen.

Fortunately for Fischer and his family, he won’t have to travel very far.

The Marshall senior inked his National Letter of Intent on Friday morning to compete in track in field at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Fischer said he’s relieved that he’s finally able to officially commit to the Mustangs.

“It’s very good. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders,” Fischer said. “The recruiting process has lasted for about a year now, and I’m really glad I’m decided and it’s official. I don’t have to worry about it anymore and I’m excited to get into college running.”

Fischer said it was a long process, but what ultimately drew him to stay home in Marshall at SMSU was the Mustangs’ team and their atmosphere.

“Definitely the team. I got along with everyone and I felt immediately introduced into the team atmosphere as soon as I went on my visit,” Fischer said. “I knew a lot of the team members before, and I just felt like it was the best choice for me.”

Before he laces up the spikes next year, Fischer still has one final season with the Tiger track and field team. He said the Marshall coaches have had a tremendous impact on him and that they’ve helped make him into the athlete and person he is today.

“They’ve had a huge impact on me. I went in doing track because I didn’t want to do baseball and I didn’t know what else to do. Now it’s been a huge part of my life and I absolutely love it,” Fischer said. “I was not very good in the beginning and my coaches have made me into the good athlete that I am today and I think that the atmosphere that they create at practice gets everyone on the same page and it’s really competitive too and that helps everyone out.”

Although he’ll be wearing a different colored uniform next fall, Fischer said it’ll be nice to still see his high school teammates and coaches with the Tigers practicing next to the Mustangs but will miss seeing them every day.

“My teammates and my coaches,” Fischer said. “I’ll still get to see them which is really nice but just not getting to see them every day will be hard. And definitely that team atmosphere too.”

Fischer said when he does step onto that track next year for the Mustangs, he’ll be looking forward to pushing himself and seeing what he can do.

“I’m looking forward to pushing myself harder and testing my limits even more in college,” Fischer said.