The Mycenaean

Making a Collegiate-level sports team is extremely competitive, especially at the Division 1 level. However, in the LRHS Class of 2025, there is a decent number of students committed to Division 1 colleges for athletics. 

*DISCLAIMER: While I attempted to interview all graduating D1 athletic commitments, some were unavailable and therefore are not featured in this article.*

Zara Desai

Zara Desai is committed to the NC State University Dance Team.

“I wasn’t ready to separate from dance just yet. I’ve been dancing for 16 years now, and it’s just hard to part away,” said Desai. 

Desai also said that while she has wanted to dance for NC State since she was little, she chose the university first for their academics. 

Lindsey Hailey

Lindsey Hailey is committed to Rutgers University for soccer. 

“I’ve worked my whole life for it, so it seemed like the best path for me to take… the coaching staff was really nice, and all the players. It was really a family up there,” said Hailey

A true athlete, Hailey says her favorite part of soccer is winning. 

Kate Slobodnyak

Kate Slobodnyak is committed to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for track and field. 

“I wasn’t actually sure I wanted to [run track in college] until senior year when I started reaching out to schools… [UNCW] reached out to me,” said Slobodynak.

Slobodynak’s events are the 800-meter and 1500-meter races. 

Elizabeth Dokulil

Elizabeth Dokulil is also committed to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington for cross country running and track. 

“When making my decision, I looked at which schools wanted me for running and from there I looked if they had my major and classes that would make me succeed best in my field,” said Dokulil (via text). 

Two other factors that convinced Dokulil to run for UNCW were the track team’s culture and university location. 

Luke Mueller

Luke Mueller is committed to Michigan State University for golf.

“I think what drove me there was the coach. He’s a really good guy and I’ve known him since I was probably ten,” said Mueller. 

Mueller has played golf since he was 5 years old, and says his favorite thing about the sport is that you can’t be perfect at it. 

Georgia Duke

Georgia Duke is committed to the University of North Carolina at Asheville for soccer. 

“I just really love playing soccer, and I didn’t want to stop, so I decided to try and go to college for it,” said Duke. 

Duke also said that she didn’t know where she wanted to go to college originally, so she looked for places where she could play soccer for her school.

Rylee Hawkins

Rylee Hawkins is committed to the swim team at East Carolina University.

“I committed for the sport because I like the team, and I knew I wanted to do swimming in college… I feel like the school came second for me,” said Hawkins. 

Hawkins eventually settled on ECU for their nursing program, which is what she is majoring in. 

Dillon Kaulback

Dillon Kaulback is committed to Clemson University for track and field. 

“I would say I chose the sport first…It narrowed down my college choices to those that would allow me to play…I will say if I hadn’t gotten offers from bigger schools then I would’ve chosen the college first and not pursued my sport,” said Kaulback (via text). 

Kaulback competes in the decathlon, as well as in pole vaulting. 

Georgia Lilley

Georgia Lilley is committed to the cheer team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 

“I wanted to cheer at UNCC because the cheer community there was very welcoming…I’ve also done cheer all throughout high school and middle school and love the sport,” said Lilley.

Lilley says her favorite part of cheer is stunting with her teammates.

Congrats to all these talented student-athletes as they embark on the next chapter of their academic and athletic careers.