Four Pine Bush High school seniors made it official on Wednesday, officially cementing their athletic and academic futures for the next four years.

Alandra Hasbrouck (Kutztown University, volleyball), Mack Carr (Syracuse, crew), Brigid Boyle (Barton College, lacrosse) and Deana Sheremeta (George Washington University, gymnastics) all signed their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, the first official day they were allowed to sign.

Hasbrouck and Boyle had already verbally committed to their respective schools. Hasbrouck, a senior setter on the volleyball team, committed to Kutztown on Sept. 25.

“Feels like now it’s concrete,” Hasbrouck said. “Nothing is changing and I’m happy about it.”
Boyle, an attacker on the school’s lacrosse team committed to Barton, located in Wilson, N.C., in March, but said it was exciting that her commitment to college is official.

“I’ve always known I wanted to go far away, and I felt like North Carolina was a good fit for me,” Boyle said. “So, when I went there to visit, I saw it’s a small school. It’s really beautiful, and I really connected with the girls on the team. It feels like a family as soon as you get there.”

Carr and Sheremeta both compete in sports not offered by Pine Bush High School, but athletic director Michael Gillespie included them because they are still part of the Pine Bush community.

“It means a lot because I put so many years and effort and time into this sport that not many people know of,” Sheremeta said. “But it’s definitely nice to have the recognition, even though I haven’t done it for the school. It’s just like the time and effort that I put in is so worth it.”

Carr understands why land-locked Pine Bush doesn’t have a crew team and said he always felt included, even though the district doesn’t offer his sport.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever felt like I wasn’t an athlete for Pine Bush,” Carr said. “I’ve competed under their name and all that, I just haven’t had a team behind me.”

Carr said his sister was doing equestrian at Cornell University, where he saw the crew team participating in the same gym, and he decided to try it. That was four years ago. He’s spent that time rowing with the Hudson River Rowing Association.

In the fall, he’ll head to Division I Syracuse University, where he will compete with the Orange’s rowing team, after having met the program’s rowers and coach Dave Reischman.

He saw other schools, including Harvard and Yale, but felt Syracuse was the best fit.

“I have this idea in my head that I think every coach and athlete should have a bond of mutual trust between them,” Carr said. “I think the athlete should always do their best to perform what the coach is asking in any sport, and I think, in return, the coach should always act in the athletes’ best interest. At the other places I visited that, I didn’t necessarily see that.”

Sheremeta has been doing gymnastics for 15 years and grew up watching her sister and was inspired by her.

“Just watching her be so consistent and doing her thing out there and being so confident in her teens just made me want to gain that confidence and do just as amazing as her,” Sheremeta said. “She’s always been an inspiration.”

Sheremeta’s home gym is Galaxy Gymnastics in Orangeburg, and her own hard work and consistency has paid off with a spot on George Washington University’s gymnastics program.

She said she had a few offers, but the George Washington coaches seemed like they really wanted her to attend there.

“They were so friendly,” Sheremeta said. “They really wanted me, and I really loved it there, and they made me really excited to do it.”