EXETER — It was no secret where Bree Bednarski was going to play her college field hockey. Now, it’s official.
Bednarski, a Wyoming Area senior, signed her National Letter of Intent to play field hockey for the University of Michigan on Thursday at the Wyoming Area Secondary Center. Bednarski will be receiving a full scholarship to participate on the Wolverines’ team next fall in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Teammate Grace Gober also signed her Letter of Intent. Gober will take her field hockey talents to Temple University.
“It’s really exciting because now I know it’s absolutely official,” Bednarski said. “Michigan is the perfect fit for me. They have everything I wanted as a school and as a field hockey program.”
Bednarski led the Wyoming Valley Conference this season with 67 goals as a senior. She also had 12 assists on the campaign. In her four-year career, she has scored 127 goals and added 37 assists.
In 2014, as a junior, Bednarski was named First Team All-State by the Pennsylvania Field Hockey Coaches Association. Her 2015 season should receive similar honors. She was named an all-state honorable mention as a sophomore. In her junior season, Bednarski set school records with 43 goals and 14 assists.
“It’s been kind of neat seeing her grow,” Wyoming Area head coach Chris Comiskey said. “This is a kid that has never missed a practice or a game. She always has a great attitude. That the athlete everyone wants to see.”
In September of this year, Bednarski scored six goals in a win over Hanover Area to surpass Serra Degnan as Wyoming Area’s all-time leading scorer. Degnan was Wyoming Area’s first Division I field hockey player when she signed to play for Syracuse University four years ago.
This marks Wyoming Area’s first full scholarship awarded to an athlete.
“Wyoming Area just has good athletes,” Bednarski said. “Everyone gets their friends into playing sports and it always turns into something big. I’m going to miss Wyoming Area so much.”
Bednarski, who is the daughter of Lyn and Joe Bednarski, led Wyoming Area to its second straight best season in school history. She is undecided on what she will be studying in Ann Arbor. Michigan’s field hockey team is currently ranked 10th in the nation and is preparing for the NCAA Championships, which start this Saturday.
Gober’s senior season at Wyoming Area certainly didn’t start how anyone envisioned. In July of this year, Gober lost her mother, Anne, in a car accident. Comiskey said she persevered throughout the year and he couldn’t have asked for much more of her.
“She’s an amazing person,” Comiskey said. “I can’t say enough about her after everything that has happened. She never brought that into the team and it’s been unbelievable.”
Gober will be playing for a Temple team that’s currently vying for a Big East Championship. The Owls will be facing undefeated UConn in the conference title game on Sunday.
“It’s exciting,” Gober said. “It’s my next step toward the future, with everything that has been going on in the last year. This is one of the biggest things my mom always wanted us to do.”
Lake-Lehman
After successfully defending his PIAA Class 2A Cross Country Championship title on Saturday, Lake-Lehman senior Dominic Hockenbury signed his Letter of Intent to run cross country and track at Syracuse University.
The Orange are currently ranked No. 2 in the country in the NCAA RPI Cross Country rankings.
Hockenbury will be pursuing a major in Health and Exercise Sciences.
Fellow Black Knight, Katie Supey is heading to Syracuse as well. The senior field hockey player signed her Letter of Intent to play for the No. 1 ranked team in the country, according to the NCAA RPI rankings.
She will be pursuing a major in Elementary Education.
