Signing day for Elmira High School: What's next for 13 Express senior athletes
Elmira High School celebrated the college signings of 13 senior student-athletes Thursday afternoon during a ceremony at the school's theater that included a large turnout of family, coaches and classmates.
An additional ceremony is in the works for Elmira basketball players Jalea Abrams (Division II Queens College) and Alaejah Wallace (Division III Keystone College).
"It's a pretty special day," said Alex McKerrow, who signed to play football at Keystone College. "We all are really good athletes, we all had great goals in mind, all of us are doing different majors, all going to different colleges. I'm friends with almost all of the athletes here.
"We're doing a great thing. We're serving our community. We're representing it well and we're all going to ball out in our sports."
Thursday's signings, in alphabetical order.
Emma Beach
College choice: Division III Spalding University (Louisville, Kentucky) for lacrosse.
Accomplishments: Three-year varsity starter whose versatility has allowed her to play nearly every position. Coach Jana Reidy praised Beach for taking on a leadership role. Enters senior season with 11 goals and two assists.
On signing with Spalding: "It's been very challenging trying to keep up with every coach. It's a pretty good day. I'm pretty happy. ... As soon as I stepped on the field (at Spalding) they made me feel like family."
Caleb Belanger
College choice: Division II Roberts Wesleyan (Rochester) for cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field.
Accomplishments: Competed in track and cross country for Elmira for six years, earning STAC West all-division honors in 2021 and 2022. Elmira's top boys finisher at last season's Section 4 Class A cross country race.
On signing with Roberts Wesleyan: "This is really special for me. Ever since I started running it's been a dream to run collegiately. ... I talked to (the Roberts Wesleyan) coach and six days later I'm on campus. The way he was talking, he really wanted me there and believed in me and saw a lot of potential in me. It was really special and made the decision really easy."
CJ Brink
College choice: Division III Alfred State for football.
Accomplishments: He played three seasons on the offensive and defensive lines for Elmira's football team, earning Section 4 Division 1 all-star honors as a two-way starter. Helped Express to Section 4 Class AA championship game as a junior and senior. Coach Jimmy McCauley praised Brink as "a determined, smart, hardworking young man."
On signing with Alfred: "Today is really special to me. I was scraping the grounds for a college that had my programs and a college that also offered football that I could play for and have a little bit of fun in college. It was all in line. Everything was perfect. They have my auto tech program I really wanted, I want to become a master tech."
Jack Carozzoni
College choice: Division III Virginia Wesleyan (Virginia Beach) for baseball.
Accomplishments: Three-year member of Elmira's baseball team has a career batting average of .342 with 12 doubles and 28 RBIs. A two-time Section 4 all-star at designated hitter who was a key in Elmira's run to last year's Section 4 Class AA finals. National Honor Society member and two-time team captain.
On signing with Virginia Wesleyan: "It's been a goal of mine since I was 12 years old, playing college baseball. It's awesome. I'm going to be comfortable going into the season. It's something to fall back on. Playing college baseball is awesome, it's great."
MacKenzie Fusare
College choice: NJCAA Division III Corning Community College for softball.
Accomplishments: As a junior, Fusare shared the team lead in batting average at .351, with only three strikeouts in 17 games. Four-year varsity player who plays first base and outfield. She is a National Honor Society member who ranks in the top 10% of her class. Praised as a humble, hardworking player by Express coach Tammy Woodard.
On signing with national power CCC: "It was definitely a very special day. I've been dreaming of this since I was little, so it's definitely a big honor doing this today. It's definitely a really good thing knowing I'm going to a school with a great coach and a great program and being able to grow with them and being able to grow into a better player is definitely a huge honor."
Emily Hanrahan
College choice: Division I St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia) for soccer.
Accomplishments: Two-time Class AA all-state selection (fourth team in 2021, fifth team in 2022) who finished Express career with 77 goals and 15 assists to rank among program's career scoring leaders. Started every game since her freshman season and helped Elmira to two Section 4 Class AA titles and three finals appearances in three opportunities, along with two STAC West titles.
Elmira coach Zach Sarno on Hanrahan: "She is one of the hardest-working players we have ever had in our program, often working so much on soccer on her own as well as in practices and games. She is a tremendous student in the classroom, carrying an almost perfect GPA."
Jahmier Klee
College choice: NJCAA Division III Tompkins Cortland Community College for soccer.
Accomplishments: Three-year varsity player for the Express who led team in goals and assists last season to help Elmira reach Section 4 Class AA championship game for second year in a row. Earned STAC all-conference honors as a senior and was named team Most Valuable Player. Scored program's last goal at home field at Ernie Davis Academy and first goal at new stadium at Elmira High School.
Elmira coach Derek Hamilton on Klee: "His game-changing abilities will be missed, but his skill level translates well to the next level of play."
Tierney Krawczyk
College choice: Division III Elmira College for soccer.
Accomplishments: Three-time All-STAC selection was integral in two Section 4 Class AA titles and three sectional finals appearances for the Express, along with two division championships. Elmira coach Zach Sarno described Krawczyk as the backbone of the team's stellar defense the last two seasons after she played forward as a freshman and sophomore.
Elmira coach Zach Sarno on Krawczyk: "She was the backbone of our defense the last two seasons, helping guide us to many team shutouts along the way and great defensive efforts. Our success would not have been the same without her back there."
Daniel Manning
College choice: Division II North Greenville University (Tigerville, South Carolina) for lacrosse.
Accomplishments: Earned Section 4 second-team all-league honors as a sophomore and junior. Considered one of the best defenders in program history by Express coach Jason Stukey and ranks among team leaders in ground balls and take-away checks since his first varsity season as a freshman.
On signing with North Greenville: "It will be a great experience to go down there and play at the highest level and see what it's like and meet new people. I'm going to study accounting, so it's going to be a good experience."
Alex McKerrow
College choice: Division III Keystone College (La Plume, Pennsylvania) for football.
Accomplishments: McKerrow helped Express reach last two Section 4 Class AA championship games and earned selection to section's Division I all-star team and Big 44 Ernie Davis/Floyd Little All-Star Classic. Started on offensive and defensive lines for the Express. Praised as "reliable and determined player" by Elmira coach Jimmy McCauley.
On signing with Keystone: "They're connected with multiple different chiropractic schools and I want to be a chiropractor. Once I do my three years at Keystone I'm going to go to one of the three schools they're connected to and get my chiropractic degree. Another six, seven years of school won't hurt anybody."
Vicky Mordvinova
College choice: Division I Binghamton University for cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field.
Accomplishments: One of the top distance runners in Express history, Mordvinova is coming off a cross country season in which she placed 16th in the Class A race at the NYSPHSAA championship meet and qualified for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon. Placed ninth in the 1,000 at last year's state indoor championships and 12th in 800 and 13th in 1,500 at the 2022 outdoor state meet.
On signing with Binghamton: "The process has been pretty challenging with COVID and just in general getting into the running groove. I wasn't always a major runner. In eighth grade I kind of skipped out a lot. There's a lot of stories of me never trying that hard. After COVID I really started putting in the work, putting in the hours. Today is really special to me because I never thought it would happen. Little eighth-grade me would have never thought I would even keep running past even freshman year, so the fact I'm here now signing DI is incredible."
Phil Nierstedt
College choice: Tompkins Cortland Community College for soccer.
Accomplishments: Key part of two Section 4 Class AA championship game appearances for the Express will join Klee at TC3. Registered hat track in last season's home opener against Johnson City and the winning goal in 1-0 victory over Horseheads. Express coach Derek Hamilton praised Nierstedt's work ethic, athleticism and knack for scoring key goals.
On signing with TC3: "It's really special. I get to play the sport I love for two more years. There's not much more I could ask for. ... It's going to be nice playing with (Klee). I liked playing with him in high school. Him going there made me want to go there even more."
Payton Ross
College choice: Division I Canisius College (Buffalo) for cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field.
Accomplishments: Ross ran cross country for Elmira for five seasons and earned STAC all-division recognition four times. She qualified for the state meet twice and twice was first alternate in Class A. She was Section 4 Class A champion in the indoor 3,000 in 2020 before playing basketball as a junior and senior. Ross is also a softball standout and last season led Elmira in innings pitched and strikeouts while batting .351 with five triples, leading the Express in hits, runs and stolen bases.
On signing with Canisius: "It's been great. It was really crazy. I'm just glad to get out of here, but not too far of the way out of here. It's pretty close to home and it's little and I'm still able to compete with the sport I love."
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira High School celebrates signings of 13 senior student-athletes
