Photo by Mark Evans Warren Area High School seniors gather to celebrate their college commitments, furthering both their academic and athletic careers.

WARREN — Warren Area High School recently honored and celebrated all of their student-athletes who are moving on to participate at the collegiate level. The WAHS class of 2026 has 17 student-athletes that plan to continue their athletic careers at a variety of post-secondary schools that include a plethora of sports. Morgan Alexander plans to attend Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia for cross-country and track. Morgan commented, “It has always been a dream of mine to compete at the next level. I want to see how far I can go with this.” Teammate Riley Evan is headed to Pennwest Edinboro to also participate in cross-country and track and commented, “It was about sophomore year after cross-country states when I realized I can do this in college.”

Also part of the festivities was Warren basketball star Logan Crissey, who has spent the last few weeks narrowing down numerous choices. Kaylee Cyphert will be attending La Roche University in Pittsburgh, PA to play soccer for the Red Hawks, and Rachel Farnsworth plans to head to Pitt-Bradford to be on the Panthers’ Sporting Clays squad.

Warren County all-time goal scorer Meea Irwin is headed to Point Park University in Pittsburgh, and her dynamic-duo of a sister Leyna is going to Pennwest Edinboro for soccer as well. Meea commented, “I was introduced to the idea of college sports when I was a kid. I set a goal for myself to play at a high level. My parents are a huge part of the process and pushed me and my sister, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”

Lilly Stanley was the final female soccer player at the event, and is headed to Thiel College to play for the Tomcats. Joining Stanley at Thiel is Quinn Norris, who is following in the family footsteps of competing at the college level. He will also play soccer for the Tomcats and is highly driven to succeed.

Also part of the signing day was football player Austin Fiscus, who plans to attend Alfred State College. His teammate, Jacob Retterer is headed to Waynesburg University to play football for the Yellow Jackets as is Wyatt Stearns who will play for Geneva College.

Adon Maier is following in the footsteps of his parents, and will be attending Mount Vernon Nazarene University to run track for the Cougars. Maier hopes to run any hurdles events, but can adapt where needed. He commented, “I had the feeling I could compete in college during Districts of last year when I dropped a lot of time. That is when I knew my career wasn’t over after high school.”

The all-time kills leader in volleyball, Madelyn Nosel is taking her talents to Butler Community College to play for the Grizzlies.

Playing baseball at Jamestown Community College is Tage Wyman, who is looking to have a successful senior season as he plans to continue on to play for the Jayhawks. Headed down south to Panama City, Florida is Eli Snyder who will be playing baseball for the Gulf Coast State College Commodores. Snyder commented, “It has always been a dream of mine to play college baseball. I looked at my offers and I really liked their development program. Playing baseball all year round sounded pretty good to me.”

The final athlete at the event was Lilly Newton, who is headed to Pennwest California (Cal U) to run track for the Vulcans. Newton is very excited to continue onto the collegiate level. “I have always wanted to do a sport in college, but wasn’t sure which one. Track became the sport I was good at and I loved it. My parents were a huge influence on my decision to compete at the college level, and I am thrilled it all came together.”