PREP SIGNINGS: Saints golfer staying nearby

When it came time to make a decision on where to attend college, Elizabeth Brightwell knew she didn’t want to go far from home.

The St. Anne’s-Belfield senior got her wish — on Wednesday, Brightwell signed her official letter of intent to play golf at the University of Virginia with her parents and coaches by her side.

“I always wanted to go to Virginia since I was little, so it’s a dream come true,” said Brightwell. “I have friends on the team and family close by, so it was a very easy decision.”

Brightwell, who grew up in Wintergreen, started playing in golf tournaments when she was 11. She also considered William & Mary, Georgetown and North Carolina.

Her coach, Kandi Comer, Director of Golf at Glenmore Country Club, said the best is yet to come.

“It’s great to see kids work so hard and their hard work pay off,” said Comer, who has coached Brightwell for the past six years. “It’s been a goal of hers and a dream of hers and I’m just there to support her. The key is, she’s improved every year. By no way has she peaked — her future’s ahead of her.”

Brightwell won an American Junior Golf Association tournament at Richter Park Golf Course in Connecticut over the summer. She recorded three birdies and an eagle on the final day en route to a tournament total of 6-over-par 222. She battled for the lead with Brittany Altomare, who will be Brightwell’s teammate at UVa in the fall of 2009.

According to Comer, Brightwell’s dedication and hard work will take her far.

“She’s got a balanced game,” Comer said. “She’s a good ball striker, her short game has improved, and her desire and work ethic are two of her strongest attributes.”

Brightwell, 17, will join close friend Whitney Neuhauser, a Monticello High graduate, on the UVa golf team. The Cavaliers are currently ranked fourth in both the Golfweek and Golfstat polls. Virginia, coached by Kim Lewellen, is coming off a second-place finish in the stroke play portion of the 2008 NGCA Match Play Championships.

Capital decision for Lynn

Bridgette Lynn’s quest to play collegiate lacrosse first began as sophomore when she put together a list of the schools she wanted to attend.

Now three years later, the Western Albemarle star’s ultimate goal has come to fruition as she officially signed with George Washington University on Wednesday afternoon.

The Colonials first approached Lynn during a lacrosse camp one year ago.

“I met Coach [Tara Hannaford] at Duke for a winter camp,” Lynn said. “After that, she sent me an e-mail and I went to her junior day. I learned about the school and I really just fell in love with it.”

According to her current coach Nancy Haws, George Washington shouldn’t have trouble falling in love with their newest member of the team as Lynn’s versatility should give them plenty work with.

“Bridgette just has this love and passion for the game,” Haws said. “She has excellent stick skills. She can go right and left, and in today’s game that’s still a big asset. She’s hungry for the ball and is good in the draw circle. Strong shot, excellent defensively. She has everything that a team could need and they’ll be able to do just about anything with her.”

Last spring, Lynn helped to pilot the Warriors to the Region II title by contributing 51 ground balls, 26 draws, and 37 goals. Lynn says that her development as a player came about when she understood the team nature of the game.

“You’d think that a lot of the time you just need to run down the field and score,” Lynn said. “But that’s not the case so I try and pass it around to my teammates get them involved because the ball travels a lot faster than your feet.”

The Colonials weren’t the only school with an eye on Lynn. American, Washington & Lee and William & Mary were among her other suitors. In the end Lynn sided with the opportunity to play for George Washington.

The recruiting is nothing new to the Lynn family. Bridgette’s older sister, Jordan, recently went through the process when she signed with Villanova to play field hockey.

“Seeing what my sister had to go through I definitely learned a lot,” Lynn said. “She didn’t really know the whole process and you can’t wait for a coach talk to you. You have to talk to them first.”

Now that her deal is in place, Lynn is looking forward to the challenges that playing Division I lacrosse presents.

“It’s going to be a lot different being a freshman again,” Lynn said. “I’m going to have to rise up to new standards.”

A couple of Mavericks

The Miller School had a pair of signings, highlighted by senior Marshawn Powell’s pledge to Arkansas.

Powell, a first-team

All-CVa selection as a junior, was a four-star recruit according to Rivals.com, a drew interest from several Big 12 and ACC schools before choosing the Razorbacks.

The Mavericks also had an alumnus sign. Patrick Liengueu is headed for Colgate, a Patriot League school. Liengueu is currently play at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut as a postgraduate player.

Starr turn

While most of the area’s athletes inked their commitments to their respective schools sometime Wednesday, Albemarle swimmer Andrew Starr will get his chance to put pen to paper this afternoon when he formally signs with Purdue.

“The recruiting process has been pretty exciting,” Starr said. “It’s also been pretty stressful.”

Stressful is a gentle way to describe the year Starr has had.

In March, he and Central Virginia Aquatic teammates Mark Nicholson and Daniel Foky watched their coach, Kyle Wilson, succumb to a fatal heart attack.

After a long grieving process Starr got back to swimming, but soon became ill.

“It’s been an interesting road,” Starr said. “It was hard to get it back together after Coach passed away. And then once I did manage to get back in the water, I came down with [mononucleosis]. I don’t think my times were as good as could have been because of that.”

At the VHSL state meet in the spring, Starr placed third in both the 200- and 500-meter freestyle races. And while those finishes in those races stand well on their own, considering what he’s been through in the last year, they’re all the more impressive.

Things will most certainly be brighter today when Starr sits down to sign with the Boilermakers. Starr’s talent in the pool gave him the option to pick from some the best programs in the country, and after visiting other schools like Indiana, Penn State and Ohio State, he decided that he would make West Lafayette his home.

“I was looking for a school with a good environment,” Starr said. “I like kind of a larger school with an engineering program. In the end, Purdue made the most sense for me. Their pool is two years old and it’s a great swim team. I like the coaches and I really like the school.”

Starr will join the 12th-ranked program and country and swim against the best in the sport — including an old teammate in Nicholson at Ohio State.

“There’s going to be a huge transition,” Starr said of making the jump to collegiate athletics. “I think time management will be the biggest thing. You’ve only got so much time in the day and college swimming is going to be a lot more demanding. But at the same time it’s going to be a lot more fun. That should give me all the more motivation to go along with it.”

Moyers headed to Blacksburg

After spending the last two seasons dominating the high school field, Mikey Moyers made his commitment to Virginia Tech to play golf official on Wednesday morning.

“It was a good day,” Moyers said. “It was nice to have my mom and dad there. I guess all I have to do now is graduate.”

The last 24 months have been kind to the William Monroe senior. Last month Moyers won his second consecutive Group AA championship by finishing ahead of the competition by double digits and shattering a 40-year old tournament record by seven strokes. This summer Moyers also won his second straight VSGA junior match play championship.

While you wouldn’t know it from the way he played, Moyers says that having scouts from various school watch his every shot put a good deal of pressure on him.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Moyers said. “You see them all over and think what school is that and what it might be like to go there.”

That’s a problem a lot of people wish they had. Moyers will join a Hokies’ squad that won the ACC championship in 2007.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Moyers said of playing at the next level. “But I just have to go in with no expectations ahead of me and play my game.”

With the way things have gone for him in the past two years, it’s unlikely that it will take long for Moyers to adjust to the new competition.

Not a Long trip

When Howie Long came to St. Anne’s-Belfield, he didn’t know much, at all, about lacrosse. But after moving all over the field, he found his home on defense.

“During middle school I played just about every position — goalie, attack, at the end of middle school I was playing midfield,” Long said. “Then Nate Rullman, who was a coach here a couple of years ago, switched me over to defense, and I guess it just clicked.”

It appears it did, and he’ll get the chance to play at the collegiate level because of it. Long signed a letter of intent Wednesday to play lacrosse for Virginia, keeping the homegrown STAB star in Charlottesville.

The first team All-Central Virginia selection was a force last year as a junior, often marking up some of the state’s best attackmen and taking them all but out of the game.

This week, though, he’s got a more immediate task on his hands — Long will quarterback the Saints in their VISAA Division 2 state championship game Friday night against Atlantic Shores Christian in Virginia Beach.

Joining the Tribe

Saint Anne’s-Belfield senior Brett Goodloe signed his official letter of intent on Wednesday to play baseball at William & Mary.

Goodloe also drew interest from Harvard, Florida State and Richmond, but said William & Mary provided the best balance between academics and athletics.

“It’s been my goal since I began playing — to play baseball at a Division I college,” Goodloe said. “It feels great the day has finally come for that to happen.”

Goodloe, a right-hander, went 7-1 and posted a 1.41 earned run average as a junior. He earned first team All-State and All-CVa honors last season.

Goodloe is thankful for all of the opportunities STAB has given him and is excited about the opportunity to play at the next level.

“I’ve been blessed with great coaches and teachers who have helped me learn in all aspects of life,” said Goodloe, who also plays basketball for the Saints. “I can’t wait [to get on the field for William & Mary]. My first series is at LSU — I was so excited when I heard that. I can’t wait to play at the next level and against some of the best players in college baseball.”