The Class of 2015 Takes College Sports
By Hannah Rancap and Julius von Borcke
The Class of 2015 here at Lake Forest High School is filled with athletes. Many of these athletes plan to further their sports careers at the collegiate level this fall-- whether it be Division I, II, or III. Others intend to stray away from the demanding lifestyle of sports, choosing instead to participate in other activities available on campus.
This year, Katie Karahalios was voted “Most Athletic Female” for the Senior Class. She has had experience in horseback riding, diving, lacrosse, and even cheerleading. Most significantly, she has been an integral part of the LFHS Girls Lacrosse Team for the past four years.
Karahalios only began lacrosse in the sixth grade, but quickly realized she wanted to take it the next level. “After being coached by some college girls and being exposed to the college level of play, I really wanted to be play in college and be apart of a team,” Karahalios explains. This fall, Karahalios will play Division I Lacrosse at the University of Southern California. She is ecstatic to officially become a Trojan.
In a Forest Scout Survey, about 21% of LFHS seniors said that they are playing a college sport at the varsity level this fall. Like Karahalios, Bailey Ehrens contributes to this pool of athletes; she recently committed to play Division III soccer at Depauw University. Ehrens describes her future team at Depauw: “It’s an improving team so I’m just excited to see how it grows.”
Dartmouth College will be gaining Evan Boudreaux this fall on their Division I Basketball Team. “I think we have a chance to build something special,” Boudreaux said. Furthermore, he is looking to have great success amongst the schools in the Ivy League, stating “Along with the other recruits coming in with me, I think we can do some damage in the Ivy’s in the coming years.”
On the other hand, 46% of the seniors state they do not plan on playing a sport at any level in college. Instead, many seniors would like to get involved in a variety of activities during their first year of college. Another senior, Alex Barkulis, describes his hopeful college experience: “I’m pretty sure I wanna get into Greek Life and try a couple clubs.”
Despite the great percentage of seniors at LFHS that do not hope to engage in college sports, the Class of 2015 already has 16 athletes that have officially committed. Below is a list of these 16 athletes:
Nick Athenson DIII Football Washington University of St. Louis
Evan Boudreaux DI Basketball Dartmouth College
Bailey Ehrens DIII Soccer Depauw University
Carly Hoke DI Soccer University of Arkansas
Wes Janeck DI Lacrosse University of Maryland
Katie Karahalios DI Lacrosse University of Southern California
George Karkazis DI Baseball Miami University
Noah Karras DIII Basketball University of Chicago
Tommy Kennedy DI Football Butler University
George Kohl DIII Football Wheaton College
John McArthur DI Football Butler University
Matt Mekaelian DI Track and Cross Country Xavier University
Colleen Morris DIII Tennis Depauw University
Daniel Smith DIII Swimming Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jack Traynor DI Football Dartmouth College
Connor Walters DI Lacrosse Lafayette College