Aubrey Harrison signs with Shepherd University lacrosse

Dec. 8—FAIRMONT — One of the West Virginia's top lacrosse players has chosen to remain in-state for her next chapter.

Fairmont Senior's Aubrey Harrison signed with Shepherd University on Wednesday, fulfilling a dream that the Polar Bear had since she was little.

"When I was younger I always looked forward to college lacrosse. As soon as I hit high school it made me want to do it even more," Harrison said.

"She had opportunities to go other places, but I think Shepherd was a good fit for her," Fairmont Senior head coach Jon Cain said. "She wanted to stay in-state, somewhat close so her mom and dad could go see her play. And the school itself was a fit academically, where she wants to go into nursing.

Harrison has dominated competition in the high school ranks, capturing two state titles in her two seasons of play (the COVID pandemic eliminated her freshman year) with the chance to break new records in her upcoming senior season.

Moving onto college, Harrison is jumping into the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, which includes some of the toughest competition in D-II lacrosse. The teams she will be competing against played a big part in Harrison's decision.

"They are in an amazing conference," Harrison said. "And I loved the area as soon as I saw it. I just fell in love with that. The team was very welcoming and the coach was welcoming and very sweet as well."

"Shepherd's in the PSAC which is a very competitive conference, and I think she really liked that, playing in the PSAC-West," Cain said. "If I'm not mistaken, East Stroudsburg and West Chester are both in that division. East Stroudsburg was the runner-up in the nation last year, they lost in the national championship and she'll be playing those schools two times a year. I think she liked that idea and that level of competition."

Shepherd is close to the Maryland-West Virginia border in the Eastern Panhandle.

A two time All-American, Harrison finished No. 5 in the entire nation in scoring last season.

Shepherd was impressed with the senior's midfield play and defense, Harrison said, after she reached out to them before the start of the 2022 campaign.

"I sent them an email at the beginning of last season," Harrison said. "They wanted me to come visit the campus as soon as I texted [coach Jenny Miller]. It kind of just started from there."

With a season yet to come, Harrison has already cemented herself as one of the best players to don a Polar Bears jersey, a program that has won nine WVSLA state championships, while the rest of the state has won five.

In that time has come great memories, such as Harrison's six-goal performance in last year's title match against Buckhannon-Upshur, or her three-goal performance in the championship game the year before, a game where Harrison was named MVP.

"I think my favorite memory was when I won the state championship my sophomore year, and I was awarded MVP of that game," Harrison said. "It just made me more confident for the seasons after that and I'm just looking forward to the rest."

Cain said Harrison's accolades have generated some notoriety, which is making an impact on the entire state's visibility.

"We're excited," Cain said. "Shepherd over the years has not recruited much in West Virginia. They get all those Maryland kids, because they're right on the border, and we understand that when it comes to lacrosse. Maryland is head and shoulders above where we're at in West Virginia. We're just excited that we're getting girls from West Virginia a chance and a look and getting attention."

Harrison's teammates from last year, Morgan Rogers, Madison Jones and Chloe Travelstead are also on college rosters this year, as the heights the Polar Bears have achieved is growing interest in the sport.

"We get other kids interested — we're seeing our middle school program flourish. I think they see what's going on at the high school level and they're saying 'hey, I want to be a part of that.' We've seen kids in our middle school system feed right into our high school team, and actually Aubrey was one of those kids."

With one big imprint left in Fairmont, Harrison has a chance to continue the trend in the Eastern Panhandle while studying nursing at Shepherd.

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.