Alexa Porter has always loved a challenge.

At Elyria Catholic, Porter played on the boys golf team and loved the challenge of competing at a higher level.

She was a three-time state qualifier and even finished in the top 10 in her junior season. Her seventh-place finish at state earned her All-Ohio honors. She was also a three-time All-Region player and earned North Coast League MVP honors after that stellar season.

After her high school career, schools such as Memphis, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana were lined up to pursue her and her talents. She chose the University of Memphis.

As a freshman, she played in 10 tournaments and even tied for second place at the Conference USA Championship. She also earned all-tournament team honors.

In just her third-ever collegiate start, she took eighth in the Johnie Imes Invitational. She also took 15th at Pat Bradley Championship.

Although she enjoyed the success in just her first year playing college golf, she wanted more of a challenge. So she transferred to the hot south — Texas, to attend Texas A & M.

"(Memphis) wasn't a great fit for me all around," Porter said. "So I decided in the summer to pursue a different path and to look for something that fit me a little better. I found it in Texas."

She is thrilled in Texas and has stepped up to yet another challenge. The facility is top-notch and its golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

"I am happy at Texas A & M," Porter said. "I don't have any regrets, but I do miss a couple things at Memphis. Overall, it's a great place to be here in College Station, Texas. The weather has been really nice. We have a great facility. We play on a championship golf course on a daily basis that challenges each and every one of us. It's tough, but it's also great too to be challenged every day."

She loves the challenge of playing Division I golf, but its been a grind everyday, as she adjusts.

"The biggest difference in high school golf and college golf is I work out three days a week at six o'clock in the morning, and I have five classes that are killer-hard," Porter said. "Then I have to go to practice and qualify in the afternoon. It's definitely a load. This year has been so hard. I've been completely overwhelmed.

"It's a great school. I have to work my butt off in the classroom though ... I've met a lot of awesome people here. I love the Aggies. We have a lot of traditions here and to participate in a lot of things is very cool and it's exciting. I've adjusted to Texas pretty well, but I still look forward to going home."

Although she has adjusted to living in her third state in three years, Porter still loves her hometown.

"It's definitely very different here," Porter said. "There are a lot of things different from Ohio. I love Ohio and I miss it. I'm still a big Ohio State fan and I love the Cavaliers."

Last year, in her sophomore season at Texas A&M, she almost was a part of a first-ever as the Aggies almost notched a Big 12 Championship.

"Last year we had a chance to win the Big 12 Championship on the last day, which was awesome," Porter said. "We were six shots back from Oklahoma State, but they ended up beating us. It was still great to duke it out with them. At regionals in Arizona, we were really close there too. We were only like six shots from making it to nationals. We haven't gone past that mark as a team yet, but we're definitely there. We've been close so we've tasted it, but we're definitely out for blood this year."

swalker@MorningJournal.com