Nine female student-athletes from Northwestern Lehigh were saluted recently for signing letters of intent to attend colleges in various parts of the country. The soccer, softball and field hockey programs each had a pair of signees, while golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball were also represented.

Northwestern doesn’t have a tennis team, but Mallory Conner didn’t let that stop her from reaching the District 11 2A final in each of the past three seasons.

The Queens College recruit made her way through high school tennis playing in USTA sanctioned tournaments and playing independently. Her athleticism allowed her to also experience the team aspect of sports by being a part of the basketball and track programs.

“It was a unique experience to not have a team to compete with,” said Conner. “But being in basketball and track gave me the chance to experience being part of a team and a community. This whole community is great, and I am so glad that I got to experience that as part of a team.”

Queens is located in Charlotte, NC, and was somewhat of a late consideration for Conner. When she visited though she loved everything about the school. It didn’t hurt that they have a highly rated business school, has a tennis program, and is a good distance from home, which was also on her checklist.

“It was amazing because when we went down, they kind of caught my attention,” said Conner. “I was interested in other schools that I had checked out during the process, but everything fell into place there for me. It was beautiful down there and the coach, the program, everything just felt like a perfect fit for me.”

Olivia Reinhart will be a little closer to home for her college career. The soccer goalie is taking her skills to Albright College in Reading.

Northwestern players often talk about the family and community atmosphere at the high school, and many look for that when they tour colleges. Reinhart found that and more at Albright.

“The team is like a family, so going from Northwestern, where we’re all so close and then going to Albright is very similar. The school community is all so close,” said Reinhart. “I also wanted a smaller school, because I don’t want so many people in my class. I like to know everybody, so that was really important, too.”

Reinhart’s teammate, Mykaela Yanders will continue her soccer career at Mansfield University. Field Hockey players Haley Kerschner and Taylor Langley have chosen Salisbury University and Ursinus College, respectively. For softball players Emma Freeman (Shippensburg) and Lizzie Diehl (Lock Haven), their college choices will take them from high school teammates to college opponents. Both schools are in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and face each other on the diamond.

Golf’s Avri Chandler will attend St. Francis University and volleyball player Leah Nagle will attend Wilkes University.