The dominance of this year’s Westminster senior athletes has not gone unnoticed as seven seniors committed on November 14th to their school of choice. These future college athletes are Ben Lovell, Sarah Barker, Sadie Stipanovich, Mitch Penning, Erin Bognar, Brooke Cusumano, and Katie Matheny. Each of these athletes received some amount of scholarship for their athletic ability and they are all being welcomed by respected athletic programs around the country.
Ben Lovell has been a key component in Westminster’s baseball dominance over the last few seasons. He has been one of the most reliable pitchers in Missouri, and on signing day, he made his final decision to play his college baseball at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee.
“I chose Belmont because of the great education, great town, and great Division 1 baseball team,” said Lovell.
Lovell is expected to be a key player for Belmont’s team next year.
“They expect me to play a role early, whether I start or am in the bullpen will be determined during fall practice,” said Lovell.
While Lovell still has one more baseball season at Westminster, he is looking forward to college baseball and hopefully a career in the sport.
“My goal is to eventually go pro, but that will take a lot of work,” said Lovell.
Another athlete who signed recently is Sarah Barker. She will be attending Baylor University and will be on the acrobatics and tumbling team.
For Barker, the choice of which college to attend was not based solely on the sport she is going to play.
“I am attending Baylor because I visited there last spring and fell in love with the campus. Everyone was really nice, welcoming, and helpful, and their pre-med school is one of the top in the country,” said Barker.
While Barker is excited about her opportunity to play a college sport, she realizes that acrobatics and tumbling will require a great amount of effort.
“I am expecting to be practicing a lot. The season doesn’t start until February, but pre-season training will be very intense,” said Barker.
Barker hopes that her hard work at Baylor will pay off and she will be able to represent her country in the future.
“If acrobatics and tumbling becomes an Olympic sport, I would love to participate some day,” said Barker.
Come next year, Katie Matheny will take her hockey talents to Ohio State. As one of the most dominant women’s hockey players in the country, Matheny had many choices as to where she would attend college.
“I chose to attend Ohio State because I want to go to a big school, and I have family close by,” said Matheny.
Looking forward to her college career, Matheny expects to be pushed in order to become a better player.
“I know it is going to be a lot of work, but it will all be worth it,” said Matheny.
The only women’s volleyball player out of this class is Erin Bognar. Bognar was a key component in this year’s Westminster volleyball state championship and she will be attending Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. For her, the choice of which college to attend came easily.
“I chose Samford because it was everything I was looking for in a school and a volleyball program,” said Bognar.
While Bognar’s choice of college came easily, she realizes that her experience in college volleyball will not be the same.
“Division 1 volleyball is a whole new level that I am not used to. It is going to be extremely hard and time consuming, especially my freshman year,” said Bognar.
Bognar hopes to learn from her college experience whether or not volleyball should be a real career path.
“I might want to play professional volleyball in Europe or South America, but I will only know for sure after a few years of college,” said Bognar.
Another stand-out athlete Sadie Stipanovich, who was one of the leaders of last year’s basketball team that took fourth in state, chose to attend Saint Louis University.
“I am going to go to SLU because it is close to home and the basketball coach is great,” said Stipanovich.
Stipanovich realizes that college basketball will be tough, but she is excited about the opportunity.
“It’s going to be a huge blessing from God to play ball at SLU. I know it’s going to have it challenges, but also many rewards,” said Stipanovich.
With two impressive state titles on her resume, Brooke Cusumano decided play her college golf at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
“I chose Southern Illinois because the school and the golf program were what I was hoping for in a college,” said Cusumano.
Cusumano’s golf talent was unmatched throughout most of her high school career in the state of Missouri, but she realizes that college golf is a completely different experience.
“It is going to be a great experience with a lot of competition, which will push me to get better,” said Cusumano.
Mitch Penning tops off the group of senior athletes that have committed to a college. Penning is one of the best volleyball players in the country and he chose to take his volleyball talents to Pepperdine University.
Penning participated in the 2011 Boys’ Youth and Select Holiday Camp, a camp that often produces Olympic volleyball players. Penning’s future in the sport of volleyball looks promising and he is expected to be a key player for the Pepperdine volleyball team.
All of these senior athletes have brought great praise to the Westminster athletic program and they plan to do the same at their school of choice next year.
