Cloquet Sees Two Athletes Sign On National Signing Day

Wes Vork-NSO

Feb 2

Kerry Rodd-NSO

CLOQUET – Wednesday was National Letter of Intent signing day for colleges across the United States. In a conference room at Cloquet High School two Lumberjack athletes signed to ply their wares in college. Kaitrin Rathe signed with UMD to play goalie for the Bulldog soccer team and Haylee Peterson signed with Minnesota State-Mankato.

“I went to the UMD camp and talked one-on-one with the coach and we really connected,” said Rathe about her choice of playing at UMD. “I really like the school, the soccer team is doing great and hopefully I can help them do better.”

During the 2009 season, Rathe’s junior year, she finished with 19 wins in goal and had 12 shutouts with a .843 saves percentage. Last season Rathe suffered an injury that kept her from playing, but didn’t diminish her love for the game.

“I am playing in the cities twice a week and getting training,” stated Rathe at the press conference. “My back is still a little sore, but is getting better.”

The coach of the Jacks, Dustin Randall, is proud of the fact that Rathe is moving on and playing at the next level.

“It was great to have had Kaitrin for a few seasons,” commented Randall. “She is determined and a hard worker. Along with that she has great technical mechanics in the net.”

While Rathe will be staying close to home, Peterson will hit the road and run for the Mavericks in Mankato. As a senior Peterson made continual improvement in her times in both cross country and on the track.

“Haylee showed significant improvement as a senior which is rare,” commented Cloquet coach Mike Bushey. “She has a tremendous upside.”

Much like Rathe’s decision to attend UMD, Peterson’s decision to attend Mankato was based on a number of factors.

“The school and the coach both sold me on the program,” explained Peterson. “The coach made me really feel at home. I met the entire team on my first visit and that made me feel very welcomed.”

Peterson has running genetics in the family as her father, Tom, ran for Esko back in the 80’s and made to the state meet in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes and ran an electronically timed 10.9 in the 100 meter dash.

While her favorite race to run is the 800 meters, Bushey feels she might be better suited to run at longer distances in college.

“You don’t run a sub 2:20 in the 800 meters by being slow,” stated Bushey. “I think her best times ahead of her will be in the longer races and knowing how hard she works I believe she will fit in nicely at the college level.”

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com