Parker has never been known for its stellar athletics, and it’s rare to come across outstanding athletes—but there have been a steady few successful Parker athletes that move on to the collegiate level. Have they shined in college?

“We’ve had successful student athletes that have played on every division in the college ranks every year,” Parker Athletic Director Bobby Starks said. “If our student athletes perform well, it is highly likely that they, if they would like to, go on and play in the college ranks. Any student- athlete who has a goal of playing at the collegiate level, getting a scholarship or not, makes me excited.”

Reilly Bruce, class of 2014 field hockey standout, attends Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, which is a Division III ranked college of the NCAA conference. Division III, the third rank of the three NCAA divisions, has the greatest number of colleges. The big difference between Division I, which is what is commonly shown on TV, is that Division III does not give out athletic scholarships. Division II TV air time depends on the school and the sport.

Bruce is a forward and midfielder on the field hockey team, is the leading goal scorer and has the most total points on the team. She has scored ten goals in thirteen games. As of October 24, DePauw was holding a 10-6 record.

According to Bruce, going from high school sports to college sports can be difficult. “It was definitely a big difference transitioning from high school to college,” Bruce said. “The time commitment alone was a huge difference as full weekends in college are dedicated to field hockey. There also was a whole new level of competition and desire to be at practice every day once I got here.”

Bruce has a passion for the sport and her statistics alone show she transitioned well. “I love field hockey more than anything,” Bruce said. “It has made my college experience so much better.”

Work ethic throughout high school, Bruce said, helped her ease into college sports. “After playing three sports at Parker, I was forced to get a good work ethic and dedication to athletics, so that definitely carried over,” Bruce said. “Holly Palin helped me immensely in getting ready for playing at a college level.”

Former varsity field hockey head coach Holly Palin believes Reilly’s work ethic was a big factor in getting herself into college. “She worked her butt off every play, every game, every practice,” Palin said. “She was all gas, no breaks, and I never had to motivate her to work hard. She is the kind of player you want on your team at the end of the game because she’ll find a way to get it done.”

Not only has Parker said farewell to a star field hockey player a few years ago, they also had to say their goodbyes to Marc Taylor, a 6’8’’ basketball star from the class of 2017, who headed to Williams College. Taylor was a dominant player in high school, starting on Varsity since he was a freshman at Parker.

“It’s not a shock, because I knew what was coming, but it’s a very big change,” Taylor said about the transition. “There is really no way you can fully prepare for the speed of the game, the power of the game, and the intensity of the game.”

At Parker Taylor was easily versatile. “In high school, it was a lot easier to be able to play your position, play any position you want,” Taylor said. “But when you get to college, you realize that basically everyone you’re playing with was in that same position.”

Taylor believes the work he put into the sport and his love for the sport helped him get into a good college basketball program. “I loved even how hard basketball was, the running, the hard practices, stuff like that,” Taylor said. “I still ended up having fun with the sport.”

Former varsity assistant coach and current Physical Education teacher Willie Banks, was always a believer in Taylor’s talent. “Marc Taylor was not just dominant,” Banks said, “When he was a freshman, he was a one-man show. The only difference I saw from his development from a freshman to a senior was just more confidence.”

At Williams, Taylor is finding that his work ethic must stay steady, or he won’t make it. “My work ethic here is excelling a lot more than it was in high school,” he said, “because if you don’t want to get better, want to put the time in, you can’t play.”

When Taylor was asked about his hopes for his future in basketball, he laughed. “I have no idea, that’s my answer,” Taylor said. “I’ve just been focused on this place right now.” Banks has high hopes for Taylor’s future and has been praising him for a while. “As long as Williams puts him on a weight training program,” Banks said. “I think he can be a first rounder in the NBA.”

Jack McNabola, a senior at Parker, is a successful Parker athlete currently experiencing the college recruiting process. McNabola is a 3 mile specialist, whose and his season best of 14 minutes and 47 seconds ranks him as the #3 runner in the state for 1a. His junior year, his best time was 15 minutes 41 seconds, and now he has improved by nearly a full minute, which is very difficult to do.

In his view the key has been crawling up the mileage. “This past summer, I ran about 70 miles a week,” McNabola said. “Last summer I wasn’t focused so much on my mileage. I would maybe do 20 miles a week.”

His results have gotten him attention from colleges. He got his first Division 1 offer early in his junior year, and they haven’t stopped coming. The Division I schools that have offered him a spot on their teams are: DePaul, Memphis, University of Illinois, University of Miami, and Bradley. He has been asked to attend and is considering two Division III schools: Colorado College and Amherst. “I’m still not sure what team I’m going to run for yet,” McNabola said. “But it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

McNabola was just recently offered a spot on the Illinois team (ranked 16th in the country), which made him very excited. “Illinois has a fantastic team and a great group of runners,” McNabola said. “It would be hard to pass up a spot on that roster.”

McNabola has been driven by his work ethic, and he has a passion for sports. He said, “You kind of have to have a good work ethic to succeed in sports.”

McNabola wonders about how different the level of difficulty will be in college as opposed to high school. “I know it’s gonna be different from going from the top of the high school ranks,” McNabola said, “to the bottom of the college ranks as a freshman.”

Still, McNabola can’t wait. “Oh yeah!” he said. “I’m one hundred percent looking forward to running in college.”

Through all three of these athletes from Parker that have and want to go to college for sports, a common theme is work ethic. They all say how work ethic is needed to succeed, but in terms of what they are thinking about when they are there, it’s certainly not what they are going to do next. They stay in the moment and don’t take anything for granted.