On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, Souderton seniors Mikayla Scardino, Kelsey Donatelli, Abby Burns & Alayna Capaldi were recognized for committing to continue their swimming careers at the collegiate level. To view photos of the event by Keith Clemens Photography, please click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p315589754
Abby Burns – Kean University (Softball & Swimming)
Major: Interior Design
Final list of colleges: Kean, IUP, Marymount
Reasons for choosing Kean: “I chose Kean University because of the design program and the coaching staff.”
Favorite high school sports memory: “My favorite memory was states my senior year and being able to spend time with my relay.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in swimming and softball at the collegiate level? “I’ve been swimming and playing softball my whole life, and I’m not ready to end that yet.”
Swimming coach Lou Williams says: “Abby Burns is swimming and playing softball at Kean University which is really neat thing for us as a program and says a lot about Souderton sports that those coaches were able to get her through four years of being a multi-sport athlete. She was a state qualifier this year as a senior and decided to swim on three relays instead of pursuing individual events which says a lot about her as a teammate. She’s a mid-distance freestyler and a butterflier primarily. She swam butterfly in our relays, and she’s a very good pitcher for the softball team. She’s going to be a really good college athlete.”
Softball coach Carol Atkinson: “Abby is an amazing athlete. Her highlight this season was throwing a perfect game. Abby is a great leader on and off the field, always giving advice to the younger pitchers. Abby is a four-year varsity player. She had 146 strikeouts this season and had 415 in her high school career.”
About Abby:
Favorite food: Mac & Cheese
Favorite TV show: Friends
Favorite music: Country
Alayna Capaldi – Misericordia University (Swimming)
Major: Early Education
Final list of colleges: Misericordia, Penn State Altoona
Reasons for choosing Misericordia: “I chose Misericordia because of the friendly atmosphere and location.”
Favorite high school sports memory: “My favorite memory was league champs my junior year.”
What was the progression that led you to swimming at the collegiate level? “I’ve been swimming for 10 years, and I want to swim as long as I can.”
Coach Lou Williams says: “Alayna was primarily a breast stroker for us and was a district qualifier two years. She’s going to Misericordia, which is a Division 3 program, and I think she’s going to be one of their better swimmers pretty early in her freshman year. I think it’s going to be a good fit for her. She’s a really hard worker, she’s really into fitness and the training part of swimming, and I think she’s going to do really well at the college level.”
About Alayna:
Favorite food: Mac & cheese
Favorite TV show: Friends
Favorite music: Pop
Kelsey Donatelli – Lafayette College (Swimming)
Major: Neuroscience
Final list of colleges: Lafayette, Wesleyan
Reasons for choosing Lafayette: “I chose Lafayette because it had the perfect combination of academics and athletics, and everyone I met was immediately welcoming and friendly.”
Favorite high school sports memory: “My favorite memory was coming from behind in the (500) and seeing my teammates cheering for me on the sidelines.”
What was the progression that led you to swimming at the collegiate level? “I’ve been swimming my whole life, and it’s a really important part of my life, so I knew I wanted to continue with it.”
Coach Lou Williams says: “Kelsey is an extremely intelligent swimmer. She’s a distance freestyler, and we always joke - she gives us split cards that we put in our pockets for each meet to show us what split she wants to do for every single 50, so I’ve got mountains of split cards for Kelsey throughout her four years. She’s going to Lafayette to study neuroscience – she’s a really intelligent young kid, and she is a thinker in the pool too. She swims distance and she likes knowing her splits and how to strategize those races. I think in a college program where she’ll get a little more specific attention on those events – I think she’s going to do very well.”
About Kelsey:
Favorite food: Figs
Favorite TV show: Gilmore Girls
Favorite artist: Amine
Mikayla Scardino – Arcadia University (Swimming)
Major: Pre-Med
Final list of colleges: Arcadia, West Chester
Reasons for choosing Arcadia: “I chose Arcadia because of the environment, and they have really good medical programs.”
Favorite high school sports memory: “My favorite memory was going to states this year with my swim team.”
What was the progression that led you to swimming at the collegiate level? “I’ve been swimming for 12 years, and I decided I didn’t want it to end after high school.”
Coach Lou Williams says: “Mikayla wasn’t planning on swimming college but was planning on studying pre-med at Arcadia, and the coach pursued her pretty aggressively in the late part of the season. She’s a very tall girl, so she’s a sprinter and will be a great relay swimmer and freestyle sprinter for them pretty early. Looking at their times, I think she’ll contribute very early in her career.”
About Mikayla:
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite TV show: The Office
Favorite music: Pop
All SuburbanOneSports.com articles (or portion of articles) can be turned into keepsakes. For information, please click on the following link: https://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/turn-online-features-keepsake-posters-0086874
- Log in to post comments
