ORWIGSBURG - As school employees cleaned up snow outside and the radio weatherman bellowed about a "monster" storm, it was hard for several Blue Mountain seniors not to have warm thoughts Tuesday.
Thoughts of graduation ⦠thoughts of going away to college.
Five Blue Mountain student-athletes officially ended their college searches last week, announcing their final decisions to continue their athletic and academic careers as part of National Signing Day.
They gathered together Tuesday morning in the school library, clad in their college sweatshirts, to pose for pictures and talk about what lies ahead at the next level.
Two of those student-athletes, Madyson Riegel and Carissa Lorimer, will attend NCAA Division I universities. Riegel will play soccer at The Citadel, while Lorimer will compete in track and field at St. Francis (Pa.).
The other three selected NCAA Division II schools
from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference --- Skyler Panchari (football) and Tristan Dickey (track) will attend Kutztown while Jake Gillespie (soccer) is headed to Shippensburg.
For Riegel, The Citadel offered everything she was looking for.
The two-time Republican-Herald All-Area Girls' Soccer Co-Player of the Year scored 18 goals and had 15 assists last fall in leading the Eagles to a 16-7-1 record, a fourth straight Schuylkill League championship and a trip to the District 11 Class AA title game.
An All-State forward, Riegel finished her Blue Mountain career with 64 goals and 41 assists. She also saw time at midfield and defense to help her team during pressure situations in big games.
"I was really interested in military schools, and they called my club team looking for players," said Riegel, who played for the FC Revolution and Reading Rage club teams. "We set up an overnight visit, and I really loved the school.
"I loved the atmosphere, the soccer team, the coaches ⦠everything about it was just appealing."
Riegel put together a video that included her doing soccer skills and clips from her games and sent it to The Citadel, which then offered her a scholarship.
Blue Mountain's SCYSA female soccer scholar-athlete and the school's Schuylkill County Female Scholar-Athlete, Riegel chose The Citadel over Canisius, West Point, Marist and several Division II and III schools.
"Some of my family has a military background, but that's really what I wanted to do for a while now," Riegel said. "I want to go in the military and serve."
Lorimer has excelled for the Eagles' girls' track and field team the past two seasons, earning a District 11 Class AAA silver medal and qualifying for the PIAA Track and Field Championships in the discus in 2012, then breaking the school record in the event last year.
An Orwigsburg resident, Lorimer chose St. Francis over Delaware, Towson and a few Division II schools because of the hospitality she received on her visit and the school's occupational therapy program.
Lorimer was accepted into the school's five-year master's degree program for occupational therapy.
"I've been through a lot of schools, but St. Francis really stood out to me," Lorimer said. "Everybody was so nice to me. Whenever I went to a building, someone would hold a door for me. The coaches literally were begging me to go there.
"It was overall such a great place. The admissions office helped me with financial aid, and they had the highest scholarship offer matching tuition."
Lorimer credited her personal throwing coach, Barry Krammes, for helping her excel in the javelin, discus and shot put.
With her senior track season approaching, she'd like to break Blue Mountain's javelin record of 140 feet, 1 inches, and add to her discus mark of 117-9.
At last year's Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships, Lorimer was third in the discus (114-7), fourth in the javelin (116-10) and sixth in the shot put (32-11¾). She was fourth in both the discus (108-7) and javelin (119-1) last year at districts.
"Barry has been with me since the beginning of high school," Lorimer said. "I love how happy he always is. He's always giving you positive attitudes. He keeps pushing you, 'Go that extra step. Keep going forward.'
"I really like that about Barry. He's such a great guy."Riegel file
Name: Madyson Riegel
High School: Blue Mountain
Age: 18
Hometown: North Manheim Township
Parents: Jack and Ami Riegel
Sport playing in college: Soccer
Planned major: Biology
Lorimer file
Name: Carissa Lorimer
High School: Blue Mountain
Age: 18
Hometown: Orwigsburg
Parents: Charles and Kim Lorimer
Sport playing in college: Track and field
Planned major: Occupational therapy