Emma Nolan, Arts Editor
@emman_courant
With many title-winning FCIAC teams, NCHS has had many amazing athletes throughout the years. From the pool to the field, school and state records have been broken year after year by NCHS athletes.
NCHS student athletes have gone to extra lengths, landing themselves a spot on a college team. This year, more than 20 high school athletes have either committed or have been accepted to their committed college, each athlete with a different story.
Swim
Seniors Katie Colwell and Libby O’Hare are known for their fast times in the pool, and both girls are committed during first semester.
Katie will be attending Oakland University in Michigan and has put in countless hours of hard work to get there. Katie has been involved with the high school team and the New Canaan YMCA caimans. Starting on July 1st, college coaches are allowed to directly contact swimmers, Katie received calls from about ten different schools that were interested in her.
She began the process by filling out questionnaires, and then narrowed down her choices. “Because you can only go on five recruiting trips, I had to decide where I wanted to visit by the end of the summer,” Katie said. “In the beginning of September I decided on three schools, Oakland University included, which I would visit on recruitment trips.”
Throughout September and October Katie spent weekends at various schools where she spent time meeting members of the team. “After my Oakland trip, I knew I wanted to go there because of the time I spent with the team as a whole,” she said.
Even though Katie is happy with all the work she has put into her college planning, she claims that it was a very stressful experience. “You are there for 42 hours and the schools plan to use up all of it,” she said. “People say I am lucky that I was able to choose where I want to go, but those weeks were probably the hardest and most stressful of my entire life.”
Like Katie, Libby O’Hare will also be swimming at the Division 1 collegiate level as a Bucknell Bison.
Libby also feels that the process was stressful, but ultimately paid off. “I was really all over the place for the first six months emailing and talking to coaches from schools all over the country,” Libby said. “Junior year consisted of a lot of emails with different coaches and unofficial visits to schools.”
Despite the misconception that grades don’t matter as a college athlete, Libby explains that she still had to work hard on her academics as much as she did in the pool. “I sent my transcripts, test scores and my class schedule for senior year so they could run my file through admissions,” Libby said. “If I passed admissions then I continued to have a conversation with them, and if I didn’t then usually they told me to retake a test or we just ended the communication.”
Choosing the right school is a long, arduous process, so Meghan made sure she took full advantage of all her recruiting trips. “I took all five because I am extremely indecisive and really didn’t know what I wanted,” Meghan said. “After going on these weekends I got to meet the team and coaches and go to some classes to get the total vibe from the school.”
After visiting all her five schools, Meghan decided to attend Boston University. “I ultimately decided on Boston University because I loved the city so much,” Meghan said. “The coaches and girls on the team were so nice and fun and I was looking ultimately to swim in the Patriot League with my sisters.”
Lacrosse
For junior and NCHS Lacrosse goalie Drew Morris, playing lacrosse in college has always been a goal of his, even from early on in his lacrosse career. Though Drew is the only one in his family to play lacrosse, he has become a household name in the sports world.
Playing for NCHS and Eclipse in the summer, Drew has been able to finally finish a long recruiting process. “It all started fall of my freshmen year when my club team went to various tournaments that were attended by college scouts and coaches,” Drew said. “This then continued the summer after my freshmen year as I went to more tournaments and recruiting camps.”
As the tournaments continued, Drew was introduced to more coaches and college teams. “Midway through the summer, my high school and club coaches were contacted by multiple schools that had seen me play, and asked me if I wanted to go on unofficial visits to their schools,” Drew said. “After I went on my tours, I made my decision of which school I liked the most, and then contacted Maryland’s coach saying that I would accept his offer to play and attend his school.”
Even though lacrosse has always been Drew’s college goal, he ultimately decided to commit to the University of Maryland because of reasons separate from lacrosse. “Obviously I loved the coaches and the entire program and the thought of playing for a team I had dreamed about since I began to play, but also because the school appealed to me,” Drew Said. ”I am very interested in the different schools the University has and can see myself being a student-athlete at this school.”
Senior David Strupp is a defensive player for the NCHS lacrosse team, and he was recruited by Harvard University. For David, the recruitment process was less stressful than others. David attended showcases and summer tournaments, which led to his verbal commitment during his sophomore year. “My recruitment was not the typical way that people got recruited because I was very lucky,” David said. “I went to Penn, played in a showcase and after the game the Penn coaches pulled me aside and offered me a commitment.”
Once David got his first offer, he immediately began to get offers from other schools. “Knowing that Harvard was interested in me, I told them that Penn had given me an offer,” David said. “After I said this, Harvard gave me an offer on the spot and a couple days to make a decision, and I told them the day before Thanksgiving of my sophomore year that I would commit.”
Like David, junior Jackson Appelt commit to The University of Virginia (UVA) offer soon after he had the offer from the coach. “I grew up knowing all about UVA because my dad went there, so it really always felt like home to me,” Jackson said. “When UVA reached out to me, I knew that this was the place I wanted to go.”
Because Jackson played for different club teams, his recruitment process was able to start early with the help of his coaches. “Because coaches can’t reach out to you until the beginning of your junior year, at first it was all reaching out to coaches and call them,” Jackson said. “I then went to showcases and once junior year started, I reached out to the coaches and began to make my decisions.”
Earlier this year, junior Andrew Bauersfeld committed to University of Vermont (UVM). “My sophomore year, I started to get actual verbal offers from different schools,” Andrew said. “Even though I got offers, I didn’t expect any until my sophomore year summer”.
Fortunately for Andrew, he was able to commit to his top school. “UVM has always been the school I pictured going to, even from a young age,” Andrew said. “I’ve been to the campus many times and I felt I could easily fit in and feel welcomed there”.
Junior Ryan O’Connell has become a household name for NCHS lacrosse. Attending University of North Carolina (UNC) in two years, Ryan has a different commitment story from the others. “I began going through the recruiting process fall of my freshman year, but my college process began before I stepped foot in high school, as I tried narrowing down what type of school I was looking for,” Ryan said. “Soon after Coach Buzzeo and Jamie Hanford, the Eclipse Lacrosse Coach, told me I was gaining interest from schools, and when to call particular college coaches.”
Because of his skill on the field, Ryan received offers early. “After mid way through freshman year I received several Division One offers,” Ryan said. “Over the summer going into Sophomore year, I made a verbal commitment to the University of Michigan.”
Even though Ryan accepted Michigan’s offer, things changed as he continued his lacrosse career. “After going through my sophomore year I thought that the recruiting process moved a little too quickly for me,” Ryan said. “After discussing it with my family, I called the head coach of Michigan and stepped away from my commitment.”
Though this may be unheard of, Ryan was still able to come back and ultimately commit to an university. “Soon after I took a couple more visits to places I hadn’t seen the first time,” he said. “I eventually committed to North Carolina over this past summer because it had a good balance of academics, athletics, a nice location and I felt comfortable being around the campus.”
However, Ryan was not the only NCHS Student to come into contact with The Michigan Wolverines. Senior Catherine Granito committed to Michigan last year. Originally, Catherine was deciding between using lacrosse or hockey as her college sport. Even though she loves both, Catherine decided on lacrosse. “I started visiting schools the summer into my sophomore year and made my decision only a few months later,” she said. “I thought I had made up my mind about playing hockey until I went to my florida tournament for lacrosse in November of my sophomore year.”
Once she decided on lacrosse, Catherine got right to work with college visits. “After that showcase, I felt more confident with the offers from lacrosse schools than hockey and was really glad I hadn’t rushed into anything with the excitement of the early offers,” She said. “I visited schools from Boston to Los Angeles, but wrapping up my process I narrowed down my top three schools and then finally my top two.”
Catherine ultimately decided on Michigan for a combination of athletic and academic reasons. “I thought a lot of about it, but when it came down to it, Michigan was an easy choice for me,” she said. “It was an awesome college town, excellent academics and athletics, awesome comradery and a large selection among others. Finally, realizing Michigan would provide me with amazing opportunities I confidently committed.”
Softball
Taking a different approach at the recruiting process, juniors Molly and Rachel Keshin found their spot on a team virtually. “Molly and I got recruited by using sites like the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA), where you make a profile with a skills video and stats,” Rachel said. “From here, we would go to our favorite college campuses and see the team.”
Trying to keep the process as least stressful as possible, the sisters made it a point to keep their lists small. “I made a list of 3-5 colleges I likes, and found that to be helpful in focusing on what I wanted,” Rachel said. “I liked that instead of having to send 30 college coaches emails about my schedule and grades to focus on a much smaller number.”
After narrowing down their offers, the sisters began to pick their school. “A major part of our final decision was finding a school that was made is feel the most at home,” Rachel said. “We went to those camps, and emailed and called the coaches so much that we felt like we were annoying them, but honestly they didn’t mind and actually seemed to like us expressing our interest.”
The Keshin’s ultimately decided on UVA because they wanted to be on a team with friendships and a strong coaching connection. “We wanted to play on a team that had a strong bond between its members,” Rachel said. “Finding a team that has a good dynamic and a family atmosphere is so important in softball because we all are on the field together and win and lose together so it’s important that we all have an understanding with each other.”
Football
As for the NCHS football team, seniors Mike Collins and Lucas Niang have gone through the recruitment process, and will be playing As division 1 athletes next year.
Mike Collins will be attending University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), and Lucas Niang will be attending Texas Christian University (TCU) as a linebacker.
Despite Mike’s well-known capabilities on the field, his process was still long. “My recruitment really began after my junior season when I began to talk to coaches, visit schools and consider my options,” Mike said. “Overall, it was a good experience, but there were certainly ups and downs.”
Choosing UPenn earlier this year, Mike wanted a school that would provide him with many great qualities. “I pretty much knew that I wanted to go to UPenn after I visited there because it felt like home to me,” Mike said. “I had great relationships with all the coaches, I loved the campus and the school, and I really gelled well with the guys that I met from the team.”
Since his sophomore year, Lucas has received offers from many different schools nationwide. Overwhelmed by constant offers, he didn’t make his decision until recently this year.
This year, Lucas visited many schools but chose earlier this year. “On my official visit I was able to go to the locker room and watch the team run out for the Baylor game,” Lucas said. “I saw this and liked the way the team worked. I stayed and watched the first half of the game and then I went to the players lounge soon after.”
Fortunate to experience what TCU gameday was like, Lucas saw that he wanted this to be his team. “After they won I went to the locker room to meet with the coaches,” Lucas said. “I really enjoyed them and the feeling I had from the moment I got to the school. I knew that I liked it and felt wanted.” After this, Lucas knew TCU was the school for him.
