Latuszek, Vanluchene latest Gaylord-area athletes to choose college homes
GAYLORD ― WIth each passing day, it seems like the list of college-bound athletes coming from Gaylord-area schools grows larger and larger.
And, with the recent success coming out of Gaylord, St. Mary's and Johannesburg-Lewiston, it should come as no surprise.
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Two of the most successful programs of the past two fall seasons, Gaylord football and Johannesburg-Lewiston, have seen plenty of their former players move on to the next level. Two more will be joining their ranks as JoBurg's Brooklyn Latuszek and Gaylord's Karson Vanluchene became the latest area athletes to announce their future plans.
Latuszek, a senior on the Ski Valley Conference Championship-winning JoBurg volleyball team, recently signed her letter of intent to Alpena Community College, while Vanluchene, also a senior on Gaylord's Big North Conference and district championship-winning football team, announced his commitment to Davenport University.
Latuszek stepped into a bigger role this season after some key departures from the 2022 team, and her individual game took a leap consequentially. She led JoBurg with 93 aces and 272 serving points and had the second-most kills (203 kills) and second-most blocks (15).
She helped JoBurg to a 35-12 record, earning a share of the SVC title for the third time in four seasons.
Meanwhile, Vanluchene was part of the dominant Gaylord offensive line that helped the Blue Devils to an undefeated regular season, the first outright conference title since 2003 and the program's first district championship since 2002.
The team ran for nearly 3,000 yards (2,928 team rushing yards) behind the veteran-heavy group, and Vanluchene played a big part in that.
Alpena Community College is coached by Sarah Prevo and is part of the Michigan Community College Athletic Association and National Junior College Athletic Association. Davenport, meanwhile, is a NCAA Division II school in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Thay finished with an 8-2 record last season under head coach Sparky McEwen.
Latuszek joins a group of former teammates that made the jump to college volleyball, including Autumn Vermilya (Alpena CC) and Grace Baragrey (North Central Michigan College) while joining Gaylord's Maddi Dipzinski at Alpena.
Vanluchene is one of six Gaylord football seniors to find college homes, including Brady Pretzlaff (Michigan State), Caleb Aungst (Saginaw Valley State), Ty Bensinger (Northwood), Conner Calano (Northwood) and Carter Sitz (Northern Michigan).
Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at Djespersen@gaylordheraldtimes.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord's Karson Vanluchene, JoBurg's Brooklyn Latuszek commit to colleges
