People fill the Ocean City High School library to support the student-athletes.
By MADDY VITALE
Chloe Prettyman, of Ocean City, is happy to say she is following in her sister, Phoebe’s footsteps, when she heads off to college to play field hockey.
Chloe, 17, will be attending Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, just 30 minutes from Dickenson College in Carlise, Pa., where Phoebe, a junior, plays field hockey.
“I’m really excited. I love field hockey, and I’m pursuing my dream,” said Chloe, whose record includes being one of the Red Raider’s leaders in assists.
“Shippensburg is a half an hour away from my school. I’ll be able to go and catch some of her games,” Phoebe said.
The girls’ parents, Tiffany Prettyman, an Ocean City School Board member, and Ocean City Police Chief Jay Prettyman said they are very proud of their daughters for playing a sport in college that they love.
“We are a field hockey family,” said Tiffany, who played in high school.
“We are just really proud of both of them,” Jay added.
Chloe was one of nine seniors who signed on with their respective colleges and universities to play their college sports during a signing at the Ocean City High School Wednesday.
Field hockey player Chloe Prettyman, of Ocean City, (seated) with sister, Phoebe, and parents, Jay and Tiffany Prettyman and Athletic Director Geoffrey Haines and Schools Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor pose for a photo.
Six other student-athletes could not attend but will have their signing in the winter, said the district’s Athletic Director Geoffrey Haines.
“This is a very exciting day for us,” Haines told an audience of family and friends in the school library. “As you see, we have great student-athletes. I want to thank the parents. Thank you for the support. Without the parents, we couldn’t be here.”
From field hockey, to crew, softball, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, cross country and track, students each walked up to the signing table to pose for photos with their families.
Jaden Millstein, 18, of Margate, will be going off to Vassar College to study neuroscience and play baseball in the fall.
He also will perform somewhere other than the field – on a piano.
The classic pianist who also can play blues and jazz, performs for senior citizens at assisted living facilities.
He loves the piano so much that he is thinking about minoring it music, he noted.
But that won’t affect how much time he devotes to baseball.
Jaden, whose parents and siblings attended the signing, said he has been juggling the two very different passions since he was about five or six.
“I love it all,” he said in an interview after his signing. “I think baseball and piano complement each other nicely. For me, they both help me with discipline and perseverance.”
And if he struggles with a piece of music he said with a laugh, “I just take it into the batting cage.”
People fill the Ocean City High School library to support the student-athletes.
Student-Athletes in bold did not attend the signing. Soccer players listed were at an away game during the ceremony, Haines said.
Abigail Craige - Softball - Virginia Weslyan
Ashley Devlin - Lacrosse - Washington College
Abigail Fenton - Lacrosse - Cabrini College - Away
Emma Finnegan - Crew - Rutgers University
Margaret Kane - Crew - Rutgers University
