FIve Sign With College Teams

A group of five senior athletes gathered in a Westfield High School conference room Friday to sign one of the most important documents put before them in their lives.

The conference table inside the school's front offices was bright with smiles as Katie Ponce, Hannah Purdy, Hannah Kronick, Gabby Gold, and Sam Costello signed the documents that confirmed where they would be spending at least four vital years in the classroom and on the field.

Katie Ponce

Ponce, who is recovering from a knee injury, cited a beautiful campus as one of the reasons she chose Townson University to continue her soccer career. Located north of Baltimore, Towson boasts programs that keep students involved with the people of the local communities in an effort to place a piece of Maryland in the heart of each of its students.

“Academically, (Towson) it is somewhere that will be comfortable for me,” said Ponce.

Katie hints that things may not be the way they are today had she not been lucky to have an excellent coaching staff at the high school level.

“They taught me how to get to a whole new level and to work hard. I thank them for a lot of success.”

Hannah Purdy

Hannah Purdy will pack up her field hockey equipment and head down to Washington DC in the fall to attend American University. Although American is mostly known for their academics and political science department, the field hockey team finished with an 18-4 record to show that they mean business on the field.

“When I visited American I clicked immediately with the girls which was a really big deal and I think the coach can take my team to a whole new level,” said Purdy. “Being in DC was something that I am really excited about.”

Purdy went on to talk about how appreciative she was of her coaches. She explained that they helped her through a lot of highs and lows throughout her high school career.

Hannah Kronick

Hannah Kronick will be donning a Johns Hopkins soccer jersey in the fall.

“Soccer helped me get in,” she explained. “It's a great school academically. It's in the city of Baltimore which I really like. The soccer is really competitive and I'm really excited for that.”

Kronick, like the other girls, gave her coaches a huge amount of credit in helping them reach this point

“They helped me so much with my work ethic, competitiveness, and all around becoming a better player and person so I think that everything they've taught me I am going to carry over to college.”

Gabby Gold

Gabby Gold, also a soccer player, will be breaking the Maryland/DC access and head to New York's Southern Tier to attend Binghamton University. Gold will be looking to help the Bearcats improve on their 4-11-2 record from 2010. The SUNY university center boasts a student body that is represented by all 50 states and 100 different countries.

“I love the campus at Binghamton, said Gold. “I thought it would suite me really well. The (soccer) coach is really nice and I think it's a good fit for me. When I went up there for a weekend I found out how much I really enjoyed it.”

When asked about her four years at Westfield High School she was eager to talk about her experience.

“I really enjoyed my four years here at Westfield High School,” Gabby explained. “Soccer has definitely been a key highlight of my high school experience and I thank my coaches for that. I love my coaches. I think they are great. They definitely shaped me into the player and person that I am today. I can't thank them enough for what they've done for me.”

Sam Costello

Sam Costello will be studying at Kutztown University in eastern Pennsylvania. There she will also be playing soccer under head coach Erik Burstein. Burstein's Golden Bears boasted an undefeated record on their home field last season.

“I really liked the campus and the coach really reminded me of home and my coaches here in high school,” said a smiling Costello. “I feel that I'm going to do really well there. I met some of the girls and got along really well with them.”

“My coaches here (at Westfield) made me into the player I am today. My four years at high school were definitely a turning point in my soccer career. Hopefully that will carry over into college soccer.”

The coaches gathered for the signing could not stop singing the praises of the student athletes they have worked with.

“I couldn't be more proud of Hannah,” field hockey coach Caitlin MacDonald said. “She certainly has been the cornerstone of our team for the past four years. She's going to be missed her but she is on to bigger and better things. I wish her the best of luck and cannot wait to watch her play next year.”

The soccer coaches were proud of the signings from their team.

“I am definitely proud of all four girls. I think that any time one player goes on to play soccer in college and represent your program is an honor but when four girls who committed last May to play D-1 and competitive D-3 says a lot about our program and the girls," said girls soccer coach Alex Schmidt, who has made college recruitment a priority. "The future of our program is going to be strong because the younger girls admire and look up to these girls. This sets goals for them to reach.”

WHS athletics supervisor Sandra Mamary, who is in her first year in the post after two decades as the high school's head trainer, said that she has known since the group entered high school they were on track for athletic stardom. Mamary has said the year is shaping up to have an athlete from each sport signing with a college.

“These girls have worked so hard in their prospective sports,” she said. “Most all of them are two-sport athletes. Some of them are even three sport athletes. The ladies know that hard work is the root of success.”

Mamary went on to talk about how proud she is of the fact that the coaches of the teams are all Westfield alumni.

“It's really nice to see the tradition continue and evolve.”