Signing season continues at Park City High School, as five more senior athletes signed National Letters of Intent to finalize which colleges they will compete for next year.
Eva Stein signed to play water polo for the University of Hawaii, Tiana McIntyre signed to play hockey at Quinnipiac University, Wes Campbell signed with Michigan Tech’s Nordic skiing team and twins Mattie and Cassie Prior opted to play together for Concordia University Irvine’s volleyball team.
Stein was a standout goalie for Park City’s water polo team in its state championship run this fall, and she’s hoping to do the same for the Rainbow Warriors, who made it to the quarterfinals of last year’s NCAA tournament. Stein moved to California for eight months at one point just to train while still completing classes online. As Utah isn’t known for its water polo talent, just being in California made it easier to improve and appear on college coaches’ radars.
“I think it would have been a lot harder for me just coming from Utah, going through the whole recruitment process is just so hard because coaches don’t necessarily look here, they look in California,” Stein said. “I think that was really important, just the coaching that I got and even the friends that I made while I was there, I think it was just so beneficial and really important.”
Stein didn’t start playing water polo until her freshman year of high school, but she fell in love with the sport immediately. She had swimming experience — and still swims for the Miners — and now she’s off to play in Hawaii.
Like Stein, McIntyre plays a sport that Utah isn’t known for in hockey. But instead of moving to California, McIntyre has traveled to and from Pittsburgh, playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Hockey program as a tournament player. She trains in Utah primarily and flies to Pittsburgh for tournaments and games.
McIntyre will join one of the top programs in women’s collegiate hockey at Quinnipiac, as the Bobcats are currently the No. 5 team in the USCHO women’s college hockey rankings.
“I was kind of shocked that it was happening,” McIntyre said. “It felt like it happened so quick, I committed about a year ago, and just that flew by. … I was just shocked, overwhelmed with how much support I had. All of my coaches, family, friends, they were all there supporting me. It was just overwhelming, I was extremely grateful.”
Campbell featured for the Miners as a cross-country runner, but he’s a standout skier as well. Campbell made this year’s U.S. Biathlon junior national team, and he’ll be competing for the Huskies next year. Michigan Tech’s academics, team dynamic and trails drew Campbell to the school.
“I’m really excited for it,” Campbell said. “I’ve always really loved to Nordic ski, and I find it really exciting to get to go to a college that I really enjoyed for Nordic skiing.”
The Priors knew from the very beginning that they were a package deal. They made that dream a reality by signing with Concordia University Irvine.
“I’m super excited about it,” Mattie said. “We definitely play as a team, so we never like to play without each other. So I’m definitely glad that we were able to find a school that we loved that we were both able to play at.”
The Priors were a pivotal part of the Miners volleyball program, and they now have the opportunity to play together at the collegiate level.
“It’s been a lifelong dream to play together,” Cassie said. “Every coach that we talked to knew that we were a package deal because we’re best friends and we play the best with each other.”