By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports 

SOLON – Ever since she was in elementary school Josie Durr has known that she wanted to play college soccer.

Durr has known where she wanted to play her college soccer since her junior year of high school.

On Wednesday, it all became a reality for the Solon senior standout when Durr signed a letter of intent to continue her soccer career at Iowa.

“I’ve wanted to play college soccer since I was eight, I just knew I loved it then and I never changed after that,” Durr said. “It’s really exciting because I never knew if it was going to happen when I was younger and now that it’s actually happening and it’s all come true it’s amazing.”

A three-time Class 1A first-team all-state selection, Durr has scored 108 goals in three prep seasons.

She verbally committed to Iowa as a junior in November of 2015 before posting a state-best 46 goals last spring.  

“Definitely growing up in Iowa and being a Hawkeye since I was a little kid definitely had a big impact on it,” Durr said. “The coaches are awesome and being close to family was definitely a big key, because I have two younger sisters and it is really hard to leave them. I just loved everything about the school.”

Durr got her first taste of soccer at a young age and was instantly hooked.

In high school the versatile Durr has been a three-sport varsity athlete all four years.

A four-year starter in basketball, Durr leads the Spartans in scoring and is a state qualifier in track.

Even with her success in other sports soccer never gave up top billing in the athletic pecking order for Durr.  

“I just had a lot of fun playing it as a kid,” Durr said. “It’s never stopped being fun.”

Durr wasted no time establishing herself as one of the top prep soccer players in the state.

She scored 23 goals as a freshman in 2014 to help Solon to a 14-5 record and a state tournament berth.

That was just the beginning for Durr who ranked second in the state with 39 goals and added 14 assists as a sophomore in 2015 as Solon went 13-6.

She had her best season last year when she scored a state-leading 46 goals and had four assists from her midfield spot.

“It’s always fun to coach someone with that much skill, with that much knowledge of the sport, that commitment to excellence,” Solon coach John Tucker said. “She has really stepped up as a leader and the other girls feed off of her and she’s been a joy to coach.”

Durr joins an Iowa program that is coming off consecutive sub-.500 seasons after posting an 8-11 record last spring.  

“With her skill and her ability and her determination the never quit attitude I think she will do very well at Iowa,” Tucker said. “I think she will be able to step right in at Iowa and contribute.”