Four BVNW seniors were honored in the Little Theater today at the third and final sports signing of the year. After being recognized for their athletic accomplishments, the signees agreed to letters of intent to play their respective sports at the collegiate level.

Kyle Harrison signed to play basketball at Northwest Missouri State University; Hallie Breidenthal for a swim career at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; Max Katcher for tennis at Christopher Newport University; and Carolina Vanbuskirk for volleyball at Pittsburg State University.

Vanbuskirk said she felt relieved upon finally committing to a team and looks forward to the opportunities that await her in college, where she hopes to establish herself in the setter position.

“[I’m excited] for just playing on a team and hopefully hitting,” Vanbuskirk said. “I just really like competition and being on that next level with kids that are as competitive as I am.”

Although she said being a student athlete will be difficult in regards to time management, Vanbuskirk said she hopes she gets to participate in eventually advancing to national competitions with her new team.

“I hope to at least just get to play a lot because that’s what I really love,” Vanbuskirk said.

Vanbuskirk’s father, Rex Vanbuskirk, said he is happy his daughter chose a school close to home so her family can watch her games when she begins playing. Rex noted that it is not typical for college athletes to begin playing their freshman year; they usually practice in the program for a couple years before playing in competitions.

“We’re just really excited that she’s close,” Rex said. “As a freshman she probably won’t [play], but hopefully someday she’ll play so we’re excited to be able to go down there [to watch her].”

Rex also acknowledged that many college athletes face more competition than they did  in high school, due to the fact that every other athlete on a their given team was also very talented in high school.

“It’s going to take a lot more hard work [for Carolina] because the girls that are there are all the best when they were in high school and they were state champs so she’ll have a lot of challenges.”