Recently, Montrose had the amazing honor of getting to see Sophie Cronin ‘23 sign her National Letter of Intent. The National Letter of Intent is a contract that future college athletes sign, officially committing them to their schools. NCAA collegiate sports have three levels: Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3, with Division 1 being the highest. Playing a collegiate sport is an honor that only around seven percent of the approximately eight million high school athletes get to have, with less than two percent of high school athletes playing at the Division 1 level. This year, Montrose has one senior who is a part of that seven percent. 

Sophie Cronin ‘23 will be playing on the women’s basketball team at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., which is NCAA Division 3 for sports. She’s currently unsure what she wants to major in, and CUA offers over sixty-one majors, so she’ll be able to take a variety of courses freshman year, before deciding her major sophomore year. 

Sophie started playing basketball in the third grade, at the age of eight, where she played for her school, Blessed Sacrament School. One year later, she began playing AAU basketball. She began truly committing all of her time to basketball when she was in ninth grade, which was when she realized that she wanted to play college basketball. 

Ninth grade was also when Sophie’s recruiting process began. The recruiting process is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining, from sending many emails to college coaches, making phone calls, and traveling around the country. Due to COVID, college athletes also have an extra year of eligibility, making spots for hopeful incoming college athletes fewer and far between. 

Sophie chose the Catholic University of America for many reasons. First, she loved how welcoming the coaching staff was. The head coach, Coach Donohue, invited Sophie and her family for a full campus tour, along with inviting her to meet the team, and to visit some classes. From the day that she visited, she felt like she belonged, and that contributed to her decision to attend. Along with that, CUA provides Sophie with lots of ways to continue to enrich herself spiritually. CUA is also just four miles away from the heart of Washington, D.C., so Sophie looks forward to exploring the city. She’s also excited to have the opportunity to play at the next level and learn from experienced coaches and players. She hopes that she’ll one day get to play in the NCAA March Madness tournament, which Catholic University of America’s team has made it to on multiple occasions. While she’s very excited about what college basketball has to offer, the transition is what she’s most nervous about. College basketball and high school basketball are very different, especially the pace of the game. It is much faster, and everyone is better, but despite that, Sophie is up for the challenge. Here at Montrose, we’re so proud of Sophie, and we can’t wait to see what she’ll do at the next level! 

Kristina Klauzinski, Co- Sports Editor

kklauzinski@montroseschool.org