College NLI signings proceed as usual for area athletes

by Tom Utescher
Posted 12/1/20

For high school athletes in the area, it was a normal November in at least one sense; top performers officially committed to the colleges of their choice by signing a National Letter of Intent during …

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College NLI signings proceed as usual for area athletes

Posted

For high school athletes in the area, it was a normal November in at least one sense; top performers officially committed to the colleges of their choice by signing a National Letter of Intent during the NCAA's early signing period from November 11-18.

Recognized below are athletes who signed NLI's (which are directly linked to athletic scholarships at NCAA Division I or II institutions) or who committed to Division I schools which do not offer specific athletic scholarships, such as the Ivy League universities and the national military service academies.

Earlier in the month, Germantown Friends School hosted a ZOOM® call to celebrate the signing of senior Bobby Lynam. One of the school's premiere distance runners, he has decided to join the cross country team at Bucknell University.

Also running at Bucknell will be Germantown Academy's Perry Irons, whose focus is track and field. GA's nationally prominent distance ace, Robert DiDonato, is striding off to Stanford University. Jordan Longino, GA's 6'6" shooting guard, will play hoops at an elite level for Villanova University. The Patriots' Elise Smigiel will take her lacrosse stick to Marquette University, and Sophie Towne plans to play field hockey at Georgetown University.

The fall season athletes who signed at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy were Maya Gerlach, who'll play volleyball at Howard University, and JoJo McShane, who signed with the University of Richmond for soccer.

The Blue Devils who signed for spring sports are baseball players Jonathan Bautista (University of Pittsburgh) and Brian Finn (Kutztown University), and lacrosse standout Tyler Guzik, who'll continue on to High Point University.

Four Mount St. Joseph Academy field hockey players will become part of Division I programs, Megan Maransky (Duke University), Katie McCallum (Brown University), and the McGinley twins, Meghan (University of Pennsylvania) and Erin (Fairfield University).

Clare Gimpel will be golfing at Coastal Carolina University, basketball star Grace Niekelski will take the court at Dartmouth College, and Margaux Rawson will become part of the track and field program at Cornell University.

In water sports, Mount St. Joe swimmers Mary Kate Leonard and Maggie Mikalic are bound for Boston College and Lehigh University, respectively, while Maggie Newell will row for the University of Notre Dame crew.

In the early signing period, no fewer than five Penn Charter lacrosse players formally committed. Ava Coyle is bound for the University of Louisville, Antonio DeMarco has chosen the University of North Carolina, Kaylee Dyer is going to the University of Michigan, Mia Ferraro will head west to the University of Southern California, and Conor McKee will take to the turf at Lehigh University.

Two female runners will compete in the Ivy League, Payton Parker at Yale University, and Emma Zwall at Brown University. Also entering the Ancient Eight is pitcher Danny Will, who'll throw for Dartmouth College. His PC baseball teammate, Dean Bergman, will be playing for St. Joseph's University.

Lily Avrigian will swing a field hockey stick for Wake Forrest University, and golfer Patrick Isztwan will tee off at the University of Richmond.

Camille Weiss of the Quakers' swim team will be in the water at the University of Miami, while rowers Alyssa Neducsin and Julia Veith will be on the water at Fordham University and Stanford University, respectively.

Soccer player Kait Haughey has signed with West Chester University, and her high-scoring teammate, Janae Stewart, is going on to the University of Pennsylvania. From the boys' soccer team, Nico Krueger has decided to play for George Washington University.