Collection of Petoskey standouts make decisions on athletic future in college
PETOSKEY — Petoskey senior Lucy Tarachas didn’t need to investigate and really do a deep dive on most of the colleges that peaked her interest for both her next academic and athletic career.
But, there was one she had to put a little extra work into: Rome City Institute in Rome, Italy.
But, interested? You bet.
“They reached out to me at first and I thought, ’This is interesting.’ So, I did some research on it and thought it seemed legit, it wasn’t a scam,” Tarachas said with a laugh. “So I emailed them back and started talking to them, looked into their program a little more and thought it would be a really good experience for me overall.”
One thing led to another and those things led to Wednesday, when Tarachas and four other Petoskey High School student athletes signed on with a respective collegiate program to continue their academic and athletic careers.
Tarachas will play volleyball at Rome City Institute, an international school that actually doesn’t have Italian students.
“Everyone is from everywhere else, the classes are in english and a lot of the students are from America,” Tarachas said. “Though you have people from other places too.”
A standout on the volleyball court that earned All-Big North honors this season as a libero, Tarachas will get in a nine-month volleyball season in Rome, though she’s also looking forward to so much more.
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Most of all? The kind of growth over 4,000 miles away forces.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the volleyball part of it, but I think the experience overall will help me grow a lot as a person,” she said. “I’m leaving. I won’t be home until Christmas Break and I’ll be completely on my own away from family. As scary as that is, I know that’s going to help me to grow as a person a lot, which I’m really excited about.”
And, just like her research on the Rome City Institute, the area list of sightseeing stops is growing.
“We’ve been to Como, Italy but that’s a few hours north of Rome, so I haven’t been to Rome before, but have been to Italy,” Tarachas added. “I’m already making a list of where I want to visit and everything.”
Along with Tarachas on Wednesday, Petoskey also had football player Joe McCarthy sign with Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, Ill., Jaidyn Ecker will continue her softball career at Mid Michigan Community College, Brandon Klingelsmith joined the Aquinas College lacrosse team and Jaden VanderWall signed with Cornerstone University for wrestling.
McCarthy closed out his PHS football career as the leader in every career, single-season and single-game record for a Northmen quarterback.
At Elmhurst, he’ll be in the same kind of positon to succeed as he was in Petoskey.
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“It’s almost like our offense here. It’s a spread pro, so I’ll be comfortable,” McCarthy said. “The coaching staff really intrigued me and I really like what they’re building there.”
Beyond all the numbers and records McCarthy built at Petoskey, he also served as a leader that helped bring the Northmen back to the playoffs, a playoff victory and a winning record to close the year.
He’s hoping to bring that same kind of leadership to Illinois.
“I think the team needs a true leader and I feel like I can fill in that role,” he added.
Like a lot of high school seniors, Jaidyn Ecker has goals. One of the major goals on the list was checked off Wednesday with Mid Michigan CC, but others still remain for the season ahead.
“I’m hoping to go yard,” Ecker said with a laugh on finally hoping to hit one out of the park. “I got so close last season and couldn’t do it.”
It’s a realistic goal for the All-BNC returnee to the PHS softball team after batting .333 with 18 RBIs and six doubles a year ago.
She’s also set goals for beyond Mid Michigan even, with the hopes of transferring out of the two-year program into something big. She feels she’ll be in the right place to do that too.
“They send a lot of people to four-year schools and even sent someone to a Division I school, so I’m just hoping to get some looks and transfer to somewhere,” Ecker added.
Petoskey’s Brandon Klingelsmith has found success in everything during his days at PHS, as a three-sport standout in football, basketball and lacrosse.
Lacrosse will be his next home at Aquinas College, however, and he’ll have one more spring to showcase his talent.
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Jaden VanderWall won’t follow his sisters – both All-American cross country runners at Taylor University – though he’ll still become a collegiate athlete at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids.
In the midst of another strong wrestling season, VanderWall has become the consistent leader on the mat for the Northmen this season, which included a recent title at the Northern Michigan Championships held in Gaylord.
He’ll try to add to his career with district, regional and state tournaments ahead.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey student athletes make decision on future in their respective sport
