CB East seniors recognized

Jack Mislan grew up playing just about every sport that came down the pike.

“I swam, played baseball, played basketball and soccer like everybody else does,” the Central Bucks East senior said. “Then starting in middle school, I went down to baseball and swimming. I was a better swimmer than I was a baseball player.”

His father, however, wanted him to try out for a summer baseball team.

“I didn’t want to – I wanted to swim and not play baseball anymore, but he made me go,” Mislan said. “Luckily enough, I found my favorite coaches there.”

He also found out that baseball was indeed his passion. Fast forward to Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, and Mislan was one of 10 East seniors recognized for committing to compete in collegiate sports.

He will be taking his baseball talents to Lafayette, choosing the Patriot League school from a final list that included West Point, Binghamton, Yale, Brown, Bucknell and Boston College.

“I bonded with the coaches immediately, and the campus itself was beautiful,” said Mislan, who plans to major in psychology or marketing. “It has high academics, it has the majors I was looking for. The coaches and team were very welcoming, and it felt like I was already part of the team when I went on my first visit.”

Mislan is one of four East baseball players committed to play at the collegiate level. Reece Moody will continue his baseball career at James Madison University, choosing the Harrisonburg, Va., school from a final list that included West Virginia, Maine and Villanova.

“It just felt it was right when I was there,” said Moody, who is undecided on a major. “Honestly, when I was younger, baseball was my least favorite sport, and I thought I was better at the others.

“In ninth grade, after my first varsity season, I was like, ‘I think this is what I want to do,’ so I stuck with it and decided to pursue baseball.”

Unlike his two teammates, Chase Harlan grew up with a baseball bat in his hands and never wavered on his choice.

“I just fell in love with baseball and continued playing it as I was growing up,” said Harlan, who will continue his career at Clemson University where he will major in sports communication.

He also considered Vanderbilt, the University of North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

“They were one of the first schools to reach out to me,” Harlan said. “As soon as I got on campus, the head coach – coach (Erik) Bakich – gave me a rundown of the program. He made it seem like a family, and that’s what I want to be part of.”

Sam Bliss will continue his baseball career at Dickinson College where he will major in economics. He also considered Catholic University, Washington & Lee and Rochester Institute of Technology.

“Around the time I was 13 or 14, I started to take baseball a lot more seriously, and I realized I wanted to do it for as long as I could,” Bliss said. “(Dickinson’s) suburban fit felt right at home – it felt like growing up in Doylestown. It’s pretty similar. Coach (Craig) Hanson seemed like a guy I wanted to play for, and the facilities were really nice.”

Audra Szymborski and Paige Keller will continue their field hockey careers at the collegiate level. Szymborski, who will major in nursing, chose Wingate University from a final list that included Queens University of Charlotte, Lafayette, Fairfield and Middlebury.

“I always wanted to play in college,” Szymborski said. “The thought of playing Division I was great and all, but at the end of the day, I was going for an education.

“Wingate (which is Division II) is one of the schools that allows a nursing major and sports at the same time, and being able to play the sport I love for the next four years is an opportunity. I’m really happy I can do both.”

Keller initially thought she would play collegiate lacrosse.

“Upon playing field hockey here at East – just the environment this team created and how much fun I had convinced me I wanted to play field hockey in college instead,” said Keller, who will attend the University of Connecticut where she will major in animal science in the pre-veterinarian track.

She also considered Villanova, Drexel, Brown and Michigan State.

“Immediately when I stepped on campus, their team environment really stood out to me and the way the coaches created that environment,” Keller said. “Also, it was good for my major and just everything I was looking for.”

Patrick Coleman and David Crespo will play lacrosse at the collegiate level. Coleman will be heading west to the University of Denver while Crespo will remain local at Gwynedd Mercy University.

Coleman, who will major in business, also considered High Point and the University of Massachusetts.

“The environment, the mountains – the people out there are amazing, and the team is super competitive,” Coleman said of choosing Denver. “The coaches are just amazing. Their coach – Coach (Bill) Tierney – is a legend in the sport. He called me, and it was like a dream come true. Their new head coach (Matt Brown) built up the program with Coach Tierney and made it what it is today.

“When I was younger, I played basketball, football and lacrosse all the way up until ninth grade. In eighth grade, if you had asked me what I was going to play, I would have said football, but in ninth grade, I don’t know what happened, but one day I woke up and I was like, ‘Lacrosse is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I love it so much,’ so I went all in.”

Crespo, who will major in cyber security, chose Gwynedd Mercy from a final list that included Marymount, Kean, Messiah and Hood.

“I really like the coach, and the way he runs things,” Crespo said. “The campus is really nice. I feel like since the first day I bonded with the team, found a lot of friends, so it was kind of an easy choice.

“I started playing lacrosse in third grade. Since ninth grade, I started taking it super seriously and knew this is what I wanted to do in college.”

Grace Craig and Sofia Mignon will play collegiate soccer with Craig taking her talents to Franklin & Marshall where she will major in psychology or pre-law.

“When I visited, it was just such a welcoming team – the coaches, all the players, and it really felt like home,” Craig said. “I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to play soccer in college. It really wasn’t on my radar until I came across Franklin & Marshall, and that’s when I decided I would love to play soccer there.”

Mignon will major in business at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

“I have played soccer my whole life, so I just knew it was something I wanted to pursue in college as well,” Mignon said. “I went on other visits, and I just knew when I went on the visit to NJIT that it was the one. I really love the campus and the girls on the team, and the coaching staff is great.”

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