At a recent signing ceremony, 12 Emmaus High School student athletes officially announced their college choices, signing letters of intent to attend colleges and universities to further their academic and athletic careers. The athletes represented nine different sports and chose 11 different institutions.

Three swimmers were among the athletes declaring their college plans, including Kelly Harvey (Clarion University), Ethan Carr (St. Bonaventure University) and Nathan Luey (Clarion University). The lacrosse program was represented by Zac Flecksteiner (Hood College) and Gabriel Vansuch (King’s College), while track and field also had two members signing their letters of intent in Sean McFarland (Moravian College) and Del Vierling (Allegheny College). Vierling also competes in cross-country.

Others announcing their college plans included Nicholas Amey (Immaculata University, baseball), Tiffany Hoppes (Cedar Crest College, volleyball), Matt Kachelries (Bloomsburg University, basketball), Belle Keopraseut (Millersville University, golf) and Morgan Tietz (Muhlenberg College, field hockey).

The students received scholarships based not just on their athletic skills, but on their academic achievements throughout high school.

For Tietz and Harvey, there were family connections that helped shape their choice of schools to attend, even though for Tietz, Muhlenberg wasn’t an early choice in the process.

“My mom went to Muhlenberg,” said Tietz. “I always would visit if she went back for a reunion or something with her friends. Since it’s so close, I thought that I would never want to go there, but when I started looking at colleges I found that I didn’t like any of them as much as I did Muhlenberg. I was between Muhlenberg and Dickinson; they’re about the same size and both private, but I was really looking at Dickinson seriously, because it was a lot further.”

Emmaus field hockey head coach Sue Butz-Stavin highlighted her former player’s attitude and personality when she talked about the Muhlenberg recruit.

“She is a young lady with a lot of spirit,” said Butz-Stavin. “She can make you laugh. Morgan has a passion for the game and wish her the best at Muhlenberg College.”

Harvey had her eye on attending Clarion ever since her brother Scott attended the school and was a member of the swimming team.

“My brother graduated from there about four years ago, and he swam for the team, so I already knew the head coach and the assistant coach,” said Harvey. “The head coach retired, but the assistant was really the reason why I wanted to go there, because she really cares about the swimmers and the team overall.

“A lot of the seniors kind of recognized me from hanging out there when my brother was on the team. I stayed with two sophomores and a freshman and they were really sweet and welcomed me in, even though I was only there for two days. The rest of the team too, was very welcoming and didn’t really think of us as not a part of the team.”

While Harvey, who will major in criminal justice, is going to be further from home, she has a sister who lives about an hour away from the school, and will have an Emmaus teammate with her to make the transition easier.

“My sister lives in Pittsburgh, so she’ll only be about an hour away, and Nathan Luey is going there, too, so it’s like having another piece of home there with me,” said Harvey.

Tietz will major in biology. Harvey will major in criminal justice.

Emmaus swimming coach Tim O’Connor pointed to Harvey’s commitment to the sport as one reason she was successful in the sport at the high school level.

“Kelly was such a wonderful leader for our team this year,” said O’Connor. “She was highly motivated, so motivated in fact that the day after the season ended she asked if I would help her swim one mile of continuous butterfly for time, that’s 66 laps. This is the type of leadership by example that she gave to the team every day. She may not have been the fastest, but she was tough and gave it her all.”