OFF TO NEW PLAINS
Shen trio set to play field hockey in college
CLIFTON PARK, NY » Rachel Sterle, Sydney Reinisch and Meara Bury are the three Shenendehowa seniors who have signed on to play collegiate field hockey next fall. They will each be representing one of the three NCAA divisions.
Sterle will be headed to the Division 1 program, as she will be joining the Orange next season at Syracuse University. Reinisch will be playing Division 2 field hockey at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and Bury is going to Ithaca College, a member of the Division 3 Liberty League.
The trio capped off their senior season with a Suburban Council Championship, not only going out on top themselves, but sending their retiring coach off with a title as well.
“It was a great night. There couldn’t have been a better way to go out from the program than this,” Bury said after Shen’s 3- 0 win over Burnt Hills in the Suburban Council Championship.
Sterle knows that she is going to miss the group of Plainsmen from this season, but is ready for the next chapter.
“The team dynamic, I think everyone this year really
worked well together,” she said. “I’m going to miss the energy that we brought to the field every single day.”
RACHEL STERLE
The Orange are going to have a runner on their hands next fall when Sterle arrives at the Syracuse campus, although it won’t be long before she’s a doctor.
“The moment I stepped on campus I loved the coaching staff, I loved the way they coached and it was close to home, which was definitely a bonus,” Sterle said. “The team looked like a family and I really just loved the atmosphere.”
Her journey started when she attended a field hockey camp on campus and it was love at first sight. Though it might take some time to get used to the new campus, Sterle will have access to some of the best facilities available to college athletes.
“The Manley Field House stood out the most to me. That’s where their hall of fame is. There’s a whole bunch of things in there and it’s mainly for athletes, which I thought was really cool. It connects to a huge indoor field and all the other fields around it, which was pretty neat.”
Sterle plans on majoring in biology, with hopes of one day becoming a doctor.
“I want to be a doctor, but I don’t know what specific kind yet. Biology puts me on the right patch while I figure out the specialties I want to pursue.”
The senior captain discussed her motivations for wanting to pursue the medical field.
“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, ever since I was little, but what really persuaded me was that my Grandma had cancer a few years ago. I went to the hospital a lot and the atmosphere there with all the doctors being so kind, I just wanted to be like them and help other people. That’s really what made me want to be a doctor.”
When thinking about her memories from her senior year, on top of her teammates and their championship, Sterle will also remember all of the precautions taken due to the coronavirus.
Sterle was a sophomore in high school with she first realized that she wanted to pursue field hockey as her sport for college and a reason for her continued success at a high level is he speed.
“I saw all the other girls committing to college and thought it was amazing to be getting another four years to play the sport. I realized how hard you had to work to get the opportunity to play in college,” Sterle said. “Coach Frevola was one of the first coaches to put it on me to use my speed down the sideline and to use my stick skills when needed and I think that really helped me progress as a player.”
SYDNEY REINISCH
Next fal l, the latest Reinisch to graduate from Shenendehowa High School, will become a member of the Avalanche at Kutztown University in eastern Pennsylvania.
“My recruiting process was actually very quick and simple. My dad knew of the PSAC League and that it was a fantastic program and very competitive. We were looking at schools in that league and saw that Kutztown was having an overnight clinic,” Reinisch said.
After attending that clinic somewhat blindly, not knowing anybody there, Sydney Reinisch was able to get noticed by the coaching staff.
“I just worked my tail off and got noticed by the coach. We were talking and a few months later I went for an official visit, then committed four days after that,” she said.
Like several of her teammates at Shen, Reinisch also ran track in the field hockey offseason, but she knew what sport she was going to play in college. She just had to put in the work.
“The moment I knew I wanted to play field hockey, I was talking to Coach Frevola about all the girls who were going to really good schools to play and I wanted that to be me and that’s motivated me ever since.”
The senior, who comes from a family of teachers, plans on majoring in earlychildhood education and elementary education.
“My mom’s a teacher and my dad and some of my extended family, so I’m just surrounded by teachers. I’ve had great teachers as well who have stuck with me and I want to be that to other students.”
Reinisch noted a personal experience from improving in math at a young age towards her motivation to become a teacher.
“I remember in fifth grade I was really bad at math. I wasn’t doing well pretty much the entire year in math. Then I got a tutor and the next year I was in honors, getting high 90s, so that year really helped me realize the difference you can make.”
When she first arrived at Kutztown for her visit, she couldn’t wait to spend some time on the college’s turf. Reinisch knows that she made the right decision on where to spend her next four years.
“Me and my mom went for our first visit and we went straight to the turf to check that out. I loved it, it was so beautiful. Wewalked around the campus and I couldn’t wait for mymomto leave so I could go play on their turf. I felt this energy that I knew I wasn’t going to feel anywhere else.”
MEARA BURY
Meara Bury will be attending Ithaca College in the fall, joining the well known Liberty League, as a Bomber.
“At first I was looking everywhere but in New York and then Ithaca reached out to me. I started talking to their coach, I went on a visit and I just knew it was the school for me,” Bury said. “I had gone to a bunch of other clinics and camps at other schools, but Ithaca was just a perfect fit and the process was really smooth.”
Bury is another Plainsmen who ran track, but ultimately decided on field hockey. Like her teammates, it was also in her sophomore year when field hockey finally clicked as the sport she wanted to play in college.
“A big part of it was the team atmosphere that we have. We’re all a family and that’s what made me fall in love with the sport,” Bury said.
After winning the final game of her high schools career, Bury talked about some of the things she learned from her retiring coach, Jeanne Frevola.
“Just staying patient, putting in the hard work and staying dedicated to the game,” she said. “Coach Frevola stayed dedicated to us and the sport for so long and that’s definitely the reason she’s been so successful as a coach. She’s a great coach and she never gives up on us.”
Her high school experience has led Bury to have some big career goals.
“I want to be a physical therapist. My dream job would be to work for the Carolina Panthers hopefully as their PT, but I definitely want to work with athletes,” Bury said. “I’ve always loved watching sports and being a part of them. To be able to be a part of them in a different way is something that’s very interesting to me and something that I want to pursue.”