ROGERS -- Skylurr Patrick spent the last few years making multiple trips to Tulsa, Okla., weekly for club soccer with the hopes of playing at the collegiate level.
Those trips paid off Wednesday afternoon when she signed a national letter of intent to play soccer at Purdue at a ceremony in the Rogers High commons area.
"I went over to Tulsa to play in the best league in the nation," Patrick said. "That's where the opportunities were. It was hard not playing high school, but I'm back this year. I'm ready hopefully to take it to state."
Patrick, who plays center/midfielder, said the experience playing for the Tulsa Hurricanes club team was invaluable.
She was named the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette girls soccer Newcomer of the Year as a freshman while playing for the Lady Mounties. But she played just club soccer the past two seasons.
"It was an experience that until you've done it you don't know how it is," Patrick said. "It's something you can't really describe. I went against the best people in the nation and it only made me stronger. I feel like having them push me, although it was tough at times, was helping me build myself mentally and physically."
Patrick visited Purdue, Nevada-Las Vegas and Alabama, but decided West Lafayette, Ind., was the place for her.
"Something just clicked and when I left Purdue, I thought that's the place for me," Patrick said. "That's where I want to spend the next four years."
She's run track for the Lady Mounties the past two years, competing in the triple jump and the 400 meters. She's added the 200 this season.
Rogers soccer coach Aaron Crouch couldn't be more pleased to add a player of Patrick's level to his roster this season.
'She's been training with us since December and the girls are getting to know her," Crouch said. "She's starting to fit in really well. When I sat down with her 'I said you're going to lead in a different way. You're going to lead by your work ethic and how hard you push every single day and I want people to see that.
"She slid in, right into the just like I thought she would. And the whole team, when they work with her, it's going to make the team that much better."
Two Mounties football players also inked letters of intent. Colin McWhorter signed to play football and baseball at Ouachita Baptist. The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder led Rogers with almost 1,500 yards of total offense and earned first-team all-7A-West Conference honors this season. He also started behind the plate for the Mounties baseball team as a junior, but will likely play a different position this spring.
Dusty Schureman signed to play football at Arkansas-Monticello. The 6-foot-2, 235-pounder was a two-year starter at tackle for the Mounties and was a first-team all-7A-West Conference selection as a senior.
Sports on 02/08/2018