Hall Students Commit to Playing College Athletics

Nine seniors from West Hartford’s Hall High School finalized their commitments on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.

Nine students from Hall High School finalized their commitments to play college sports on April 20, 2016. Front row (from left): Nia Fraser, Mel Binkhorst, Josie Lynch, Emily Rossini, Hannah Merritt. Back row (from left): Geoffrey Diehl, Harrison Newman, Danny Roth, Tyler Strickling. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

Several members of the Hall High School Class of 2016 signed Letters of Intent and others finalized their commitments to continue their careers as student-athletes at the college level during a ceremony with families, friends, coaches, Principal Dan Zittoun, and West Hartford Athletic Director Betty-Remigino Knapp on Wednesday afternoon.

Melanie Binkhorst, who was captain of this year’s Hall girls basketball team, will play basketball for Bates College next year. Remigino-Knapp said that although Binkhorst was sidelined with two ACL injuries during the most of the last two years of her high school career, she scored 29 points in the last basketball game she did play. “She’s also an outstanding student who has earned All-Academic honors,” Remigino-Knapp said.

Geoffrey Diehl, who has captained the Hall boys tennis team for the past two years, will play tennis for Drew University. He has earned All-Conference honors and All-Academic honors.

Hannah Merritt is captain of this year’s girls outdoor track and field team and is also a standout soccer player who has earned All-Academic honors. She will play soccer at Endicott College next year.

Football player Harrison Newman will be a walk-on with the University of Connecticut football team next year. At Hall he has received All-Conference and All-Academic honors.

Emily Rossini signed her Letter of Intent Wednesday to play lacrosse at Division II Southern Connecticut State University. She has received All-Academic honors at Hall.

Tyler Strickling, who captained the Hall football team and was also a cheerleader during the winter season, will play football for Division II Stonehill College. He has been All Academic the past four years.

Danny Roth, a standout baseball and basketball player at Hall who captained both teams, has committed to play baseball at Roger Williams University next year. He has earned All-Conference and All-Academic honors.

Nia Fraser is captain of the Hall girls outdoor track and field team and holds the school record in the long jump. She will has earned All-Conference and All-Academic honors and will continue her track and field career at Colby-Sawyer College.

Josie Lynch finalized her college plans on Wednesday morning, and Wednesday afternoon celebrated her plan to sign a Letter of Intent to play field hockey at Division II Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently captain of the Hall girls lacrosse team, and may decide to play both field hockey and lacrosse at Southern. She has earned All-Academic and All-Conference honors in both sports.

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