Nine Watkins Glen High School seniors took a major step toward their futures Wednesday, signing letters of intent to continue competing in college athletics while pursuing degrees in fields ranging from nursing and biology to finance and criminal justice.
Family members, classmates and school officials filled the district’s Board of Education meeting room to celebrate the student-athletes as they committed to programs across the Northeast and beyond. The group represented five sports, including basketball, track and field, swimming, soccer and shotgun sports.
Three of the nine students will attend SUNY Brockport. Olivia King signed to play basketball while majoring in biology with plans to become a medical technologist. Ryan Dean will join the swim team while pursuing a nursing degree, and Brianna Hatch will also play basketball while studying nursing.
Several other seniors will compete at schools across the region. Madison Tuttle signed with the University of the Cumberlands track and field program and plans to study public health and biology. Natalee Oliver will compete in track and field at SUNY Cortland while majoring in speech and hearing sciences. Rachel Vickio will continue her basketball career at Elmira College while pursuing a nursing degree.
Michael Purpura signed to play soccer at Gannon University and will major in finance, while Christopher Simiele will play basketball at Hilbert College and study business administration. Cordelia Thompson will join Lindenwood University’s shotgun sports team while majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology with a minor in criminal justice.
The signing ceremony marked the culmination of years of work in the classroom and on the field, court, range and pool, as the seniors prepare to graduate and begin the next chapter of their athletic and academic careers this fall.
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