EXETER – Caity Butchko was one of the leaders in getting the girls lacrosse program started at Wyoming Area.
Morgan Coolbaugh was part of the most successful stretch of field hockey in school history.
Both have made decisions to continue in those sports locally at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III level.
They held a signing ceremony at Wyoming Area this week to announce that Butchko plans to play at King’s College and Coolbaugh plans to play at Misericordia University.
Wyoming Area began girls lacrosse in 2015 in Butchko’s sophomore year and she made an immediate impact. The Lady Warriors won five Wyoming Valley Conference games in their first two seasons and beat rival Pittston Area in playoffs both seasons
Butchko was a second-team, all-star on the WVC coaches’ team as a sophomore. Last season, she was a second-team choice on the Times Leader’s all-star team.
Also a four-year starter and all-star goalie on the girls soccer team, Butcko was unsure at first whether to pursue lacrosse on a higher level.
“I wasn’t really confident in it because I only played for three years as opposed to other collegiate athletes who have many years experience and travel experience,” she said. “I would say late in my junior year is when I really started looking into playing a collegiate level.”
Butchko plays attack and some midfield in high school. She is expecting to concentrate on midfield in college.
At King’s, where her father works and her sister, Brittany Benkoski is a junior, Butchko plans to enter the physician’s assistant program.
Coolbaugh plans to study patient navigation at Misericordia. She has attended games there while considering the school.
“The college game is definitely much faster,” said Coolbaugh, who has played the sport for nine years. “I know I have to keep working out and keep working with my team to make sure I’m at that level.”
Coolbaugh was a defender on the Wyoming Area team the last three seasons, the most successful three in school history, including a 13-2 WVC finish her junior year. She alternated between starter and key reserve as a senior.
King’s is off to a 2-2 start in women’s lacrosse this season after making the MAC Freedom League playoffs three of the past five seasons, two of them with winning records.
After making an NCAA Division III field hockey tournament appearance as MAC Freedom champion in 2015, Misericordia slipped to 5-13 last season.
