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April 16, 2010

From one St. Franics to another

Clear to play volleyball at N.Y. college

BY MIKE ECKERT

TRAVERSE CITY -- Abby Clear is going from one St. Francis to another.

The Traverse City St. Francis senior signed her national letter of intent on Wednesday to play volleyball at Division I St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.

"It's weird to think about," Clear said. "People keep talking to me about going from one St. Francis to another. It's always been my home."

Almost always.

Clear hit the scene at St. Francis -- the Traverse City version -- as a freshman. She was an All-Lake Michigan Conference standout in volleyball that year and repeated it as a sophomore, while setting the school record for kills.

For her junior year, however, the Clear family moved to Madison, Wisc., where she played at Madison Edgewood High School. It was only for a year, as Clear returned to northern Michigan last fall and re-set her own school kills record.

"I was very excited to come back," Clear said. "I got to re-connect a lot of friendships through volleyball."

When it came time to find a college, Clear explored a couple of other options, but was impressed with what she found at the New York City school with a like name.

"The school itself is very good," Clear said. "And it's in the city, which I love. I want to be a city girl. I also liked the team and the administration. It felt like home."

Clear -- who will study business -- says she still keeps in touch with the teammates she met during a recruiting weekend.

Those girls officially became her future teammates Wednesday when she signed her letter of intent.

"It's such a relief to know I was officially signed," Clear said. "I'm so happy knowing that I'm set. I can't wait to get the rest of my life going and play volleyball at the next level."

Clear wasn't the only one locking in her future plans lately.

Zachel Zeppa became the first student at Grand Traverse Academy to receive a college athletic scholarship. She'll run track and field at Grand Valley State University.

Two boys basketball players recently secured their participation at the collegiate level.

TC West senior Aaron Olsen was a first-team Big North Conference standout after averaging 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. The 6-foot-5 forward will play at Concordia University in Ann Arbor.

Fresh off Suttons Bay's run to the Class C state championship game, 6-foot-6 senior Chase Palmer is going to play basketball and golf at Denison University in Ohio.

Palmer averaged 10 points and eight rebounds last year.

For girls basketball, TC Bulldogs senior Ellisha Crosby is also moving on. The homeschool All-American is going to continue at Concordia University. For her senior year, Crosby averaged 29.2 points a game with 12.4 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

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