State College celebrates big signing day

Dozens of parents, teammates and friends filled the State College south library on Wednesday.

Some were sitting, others standing, but all had eyes on the front of the room.

A table, with three chairs and a projector screen behind it, was the focal point of everyone’s attention — and of course, the athletes, who eventually sat at that table, telling everyone their future plans.

A group of more than 30 student-athletes announced their college choices on National Signing Day. In total, State College has 17 student-athletes moving on to play at Division I programs.

Two of those are staying rather close, too.

Natasha Fedkina and Tristan Daman will both attend Penn State, competing for the cross country and track and field teams.

“I’ve always been growing up seeing myself on the team,” Fedkina said. “I did get a few letters from smaller schools, but I’ve wanted to go to a big school. Penn State was perfect.”

Daman, whose father played football at Penn State, also played football at State College, but wanted to pursue the sport he loved the most.

“Track has always been my No. 1,” Daman said. “I just wanted to continue it at Penn State.”

Another Little Lion who considered Penn State was punter Brett Graham. Also a productive tight end, Graham thought about walking on at Penn State, or attending a Division II school like Shippensburg, Bloomsburg or Slippery Rock, where he could play as a tight end while still punting.

Instead, he signed to play for Connecticut.

It was a recent decision. Graham took his official visit at UConn on Jan. 22, and came away impressed with the facilities, coaches and players.

He admitted the transition to just punting will be a difficult one. “It’s tough because I’m used to playing every position I could,” Graham said.

But he’s excited for the challenge, and was thankful for those in attendance — his family joined by a couple of Penn State players, punter/kicker Chris Gulla and longsnapper Tyler Yazujian.

“I’ve known them for two years,” Graham said of Gulla and Yazujian. “Just kicking and punting over the summer, getting some long snaps, I feel like they’ve helped me a lot.”

While Graham sat at the table, Fedkina, already having her turn at the ceremony, stood in the back, chatting with friend Haley Crawford.

Crawford, who committed to playing soccer at James Madison, had a few schools in mind, including Navy, Penn State, St. Francis and Princeton. But Crawford, who scored 64 goals over her high school career, felt comfortable with her soon-to-be teammates and coaches at James Madison.

“You weren’t just a number on the team,” Crawford said. “They check up on you every day, and overall, just really nice.”

Comfort in their eventual situation was key for other student-athletes, as well.

Caroline Friberg, entering her final season having already topped 125 goals for her career, will play for Drexel women’s lacrosse next year, due in large part to one major factor.

“I like the city atmosphere,” Friberg said. “I looked at a lot of city schools, but I love how close Philly is and how I was familiar with it.”

Meanwhile, Alex Milligan feels his position at North Carolina is an advantageous one.

Milligan, this year’s Class AAA District 6 cross country champion, was originally verbally committed to Wake Forest, but an email from the Tar Heels “out of nowhere” changed things.

“I’ve always been a fan of North Carolina, so I had to consider it,” Milligan said.

He committed to North Carolina on Jan. 18, one week after visiting.

Milligan noted that the current team has zero freshmen, and that he’s joined by six other incoming runners in his distance — something he looks forward to.

“The team seemed very welcoming to freshmen,” Milligan said. “I thought that’d be good to have a lot of guys my age to work with.”

Other State College athletes recognized Wednesday include: Kyla Irwin (UConn, women’s basketball); Lauren Kelly (Mount Union or East Stroudsburg, women’s lacrosse); Will Harvey (Widener, men’s lacrosse); Mini Kifolo (Susquehanna, field hockey); Hannah Shields (Delaware State, softball); Nathan King (U.S. Air Force Academy, football); Mark Weakland (The Citadel, football); Jon Seighman (Lehigh, football); Gabe Manyak (Bloomsburg, football); Alec Aspray (Shippensburg, football); Doug Swoboda (St. Francis, football); Isaac Plutzer (Washington University, St. Louis, men’s soccer); Kyle Moerschbacher (St. Francis, men’s soccer); Chris Adams (University of Pennsylvania, baseball); Bailey Ishler (U.S. Air Force Academy, baseball); Brandon Raquet (College of William and Mary, baseball); Evan Moerschbacher (Washington and Jefferson, baseball); Lauren Anderson (Misericordia, women’s soccer); David Rovansek (Washington College, swimming); Seth Erdley (St. Bonaventure, swimming); Fiona Vashaw (Vermont, swimming); Grace Tothero (Shippensburg, swimming); Jack Etter (Indiana, swimming); Megan Klaus (Saint Anselm, ice hockey).

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "State College celebrates big signing day."