Pictured above: From left, Sofia Sabatini, Alexys Moore, Bianca Pizano and Madelyn Keating. (Tom Robinson Photo)
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
EXETER – Four Wyoming Area female athletes signed National Letters of Intent during signing ceremonies at the school Wednesday morning, the first day of the latest National Collegiate Athletic Association signing period.
Madelyn Keating, fresh off a District 2-best, fourth-place finish in Class 2A at Saturday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships, signed with Mississippi State for cross country and track and field less than 48 hours after giving the school her verbal commitment.
Alexys Moore, who is headed to the University of Massachusetts, and Bianca Pizano, who is bound for Michigan State, signed in field hockey the morning after leading Wyoming Area past Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, 1-0, in a first-round state tournament game. Moore, who scored the game-winning goal, and Pizano both had made verbal commitments almost a year ago, shortly after a state tournament run ended in the semifinals.
Sofia Sabatini signed with Winthrop University for lacrosse.
All four formalized commitments to athletic scholarships from the Division I programs.
Keating heard from Mississippi State after the state track meet in May when she finished third in the state in Class 2A in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs. She won three gold medals and a silver in District 2 in track, then added the district cross country gold medal in October.
“It actually ended up coming down to the major,” said Keating, who also made official visits in-state to St. Joseph’s and Bucknell. “I want to pursue cyber security. I think the best opportunity for me to pursue cyber security in the future would be from Mississippi State.”
Moore only ever visited one college campus after going to an individual clinic at UMass as a freshman. She broke into the Wyoming Area starting lineup as a sophomore, heard from the UMass coaches that they were interested and began a connection that led to the commitment last November.
“As soon as I went there, it felt like a home,” she said. “The whole coaching staff is the same since when I first went up there and it just seems to be a great group of people; the kind I’d like to surround myself with.”
Pizano showed off a large collection of clothing and other Michigan State-logo merchandise while posing for pictures.
“Everything’s now stress-free that everything’s official,” Pizano said. “It’s a little different. Committing there is one thing, but signing is like ‘real’.
“I talk to them all the time. They just let me play, but afterward, they’ll always text me. They watch most of our live-streamed games and they came to districts.”
Sabatini made her connection through the NXT lacrosse club team out of Conshohocken. Her exposure in tournament play with NXT led to recruiting visits to Akron, Mount St. Mary’s and Iona as well as Winthrop, the Rock Hill, S.C. school that she eventually chose.
“It was just the best atmosphere for me,” Sabatini said. “I liked the campus the best; the coaches were awesome; everybody I worked with in the administration and the biology department made it feel like home to me.”
