Blue Streaks sign on the dotted line
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> They filled the Teacher’s Auditorium at Saratoga Springs High School, both on the stage and in the available seating as administrators, friends, family and fans celebrated the opening National Letter of Intent signing day of the current school year.
Twenty-four Blue Streak student athletes were introduced by athletic director Peter Sheehan and Saratoga Rowing Association executive director Eric Catalano on the first day when athletes can make their college athletic commitments official.
Sheehan introduced the 17 Saratoga varsity athletes and Catalano then introduced the seven rowers Wednesday afternoon.
Saratoga senior runner Kelsey Chmiel made her college plans official, choosing NC State over Stanford and Iowa State.
“I want to be a vet, so the animal science program at NC State is really strong and then just coupled with the great tradition in cross coun-
try and track and field was a really good fit,” Kelsey Chmiel said. “The coaches were great, they saw potential in me and I saw that they were great coaches.”
The tremendous week continues for Chmiel who finished second overall at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet at Sunken Meadow and leading the Blue Streaks to a firstplace finish, edging out 14time champion Fayetteville Manlius by a single point for the team title.
On Wednesday, her verbal commitment became a binding agreement with the Wolfpack.
“I’ve been pretty busy, it’s been a little stressful, but definitely good,” Chmiel said. “Now that I’ve made my decision I’m deficiently excited, moving forward.
“Making the decision is a big relief and then just being able to follow their season and how well they’re doing is really exciting.”
Saratoga Springs senior Kerry Flaherty is just starting her final girls basketball season and is looking forward to playing up again at Holy Cross next winter.
“It’s always been my dream school, I grew up around that school,” Kerry Flaherty said. “My dad went there; my brother is currently going there. Any other schools I talked to it was in the back of my mind the whole time. I committed right when they offered me, I was like ‘This is it, this is where I’m going.’”
The Blue Streak scorer is ready to face older, more mature women on the court next year.
“I’ve played up my whole life so I know what it’s like to compete against bigger, stronger players,” Flaherty said. “I know Holy Cross is going to make that transition easy for me, so that was another deciding factor for me.”
She chose Holy Cross over Marist, Boston University along with several Patriot and Ivy League schools.
“They like my shooting and my offensive game, but they knew I need to step up on defense and driving to the hoop, which I’ve improved on this summer during my AAU time,” Flaherty said.
Joining Flaherty on the Worcester campus will be Saratoga senior baseball standout Nate Chudy.
“I love the campus at Holy Cross, it is a beautiful campus as well as the coach,” Nate Chudy said. “He was very friendly and a very nice guy and also in the town of Worcester, five minutes away is where my sister goes to college, so it all kind of came together.”
Chudy didn’t opt to play baseball in a warmer climate as part of his college decision.
“I’ve been playing here my whole life, so I’ve gotten used to it, accustomed to playing in these conditions,” Chudy said. “I guess I’ve just gotten used to it as a baseball player, being able to pitch inside, being able to pitch where I can to get reps and just warm-up.”
The 6-foot-8-inch righthander impressed the Crusaders pitching staff.
“I was able to locate when I’m pitching, I was able to locate my stuff, offspeed, curve ball and stuff like that as well as I’m tall and skinny so I have a lot of potential,” Chudy said. “I can put a lot of meat on the frame.”
He is ready to face Division I batters at the next level.
“They seem a lot more intense, they seem like they came to play, they came to be serious in there,” Chudy said. “Before the game you have to know ‘This guy can hit this pitch, I need to be able to steer away from that. You have to be able to think ahead and be able to react to anything.”
Saratoga senior Reilly Hogan is traveling near the Capitol, committing to play women’s lacrosse at Georgetown.
“I really felt at home there,” Reilly Hogan said. “I knew the academics were great, the coaching staff was great, the program I was going for lacrosse, and I wanted to make sure that I was getting in a good program.
“Once I was done with my visit I told my mom as we were walking out ‘I really want to go here and it just really felt at home.”
She chose Georgetown over Hofstra, James Madison University and Duke.
“They liked that I’m a lefty, they said that I would have a big impact on the program,” Hogan said. “They said they would be really excited to have me and I would fit in the team lifestyle, which was pretty cool.
Even before she starts her final season with the Blue Streaks, she has plans to step up her game for the Hoyas.
“I think putting time in every day whether it’s lacrosse-wise, working out and just making sure that I’m growing with the game, watching games, watching film so as the game improves I improve with it,” Hogan said.
Blue Streak senior Alex Henderson changed his focus from soccer to baseball and it paid off as he made his commitment to Fordham University official Wednesday.
“I was still debating between soccer and baseball and I had a few options with MAAC teams and then around the winter I got some looks,” Alex Henderson said. “I visited, I really loved it, loved the fit, loved the school, loved the coaches and I’m looking to major in finance and they have a really good finance program so I just made the decision around Christmas.
“They really liked my build. I had a good sophomore year; they saw that, they tracked me all summer, they like where my velocity was. Right now it’s just really working on my secondary pitches, hitting spots, getting ready to go on to the collegiate level.”
His success on the diamond took him off the pitch with his college search.
“I was leaning heavily towards soccer my freshman, sophomore year and then I had a really good sophomore year in baseball, really started to enjoy baseball, starting to get a lot more looks for baseball,” Henderson said. “I just made a decision that I enjoy baseball more and I was going to go that way.”
He will look to increase his pitch options before joining the Rams.
“In the Suburban Council you’re throwing mid-, high-80s, you’re going to be able to throw fastball heavy,” Henderson said. “When you go to the Atlantic-10 next year they’re going to be able to hit those fastballs, you need to be able to mix it up, hit spots, keep batters unbalanced. It’s a whole new level.”