BERLIN – Four Stephen Decatur High School women’s lacrosse players signed letters of intent to continue their athletic careers at the college level this week.
On Tuesday, players Jordan Klebe, Payton VanKirk, Blair Yesko and Jillian Petito were featured at a signing event at Stephen Decatur High School.
“Today you make all of us at Stephen Decatur proud,” Principal Tom Zimmer said.
Bob Musitano, the school’s women’s lacrosse coach, said it had been a prolific year for the team, as all of its seniors would be moving on to play at the college level in 2015.
“That’s pretty amazing,” he said.
Musitano said the array of lacrosse programs in the area were a good “feeder system” for the high school team. Many of his team members have been playing together for a decade or longer. The four who signed Tuesday are all members of the Sea Bay Lacrosse travel team, which competes throughout the year when the Decatur High School team is not on the field.
“These kids have been playing lacrosse together for a long time and that really helps,” Musitano said. “When you have a group like this you want to come back every year.”
Petito, the team’s goalie, will be attending Mt. St. Mary’s University, as she indicated this spring.
Midfielder VanKirk will attend the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Yesko, who plays attack, will join the team at Sacred Heart University.
Klebe, who also plays attack, will be attending Kutztown University.
“Since eighth-grade, I’ve had a dream to play in college,” Klebe said.
She said she was excited to have been able to sign with her teammates, who she will play a final season of high school lacrosse with in the spring.
“We’ve been so close,” she said. “It’ll be hard to move on but I think I’ll adjust.”