Feb 9, 2019 3 min read

In the early stages of evaluating colleges, Trinity High School’s Julia Chakos liked everything she saw from Bucknell University.

Yet, she put it on the backburner.

“It was really expensive and I never throughout I’d go there,” Chakos said. “I pushed it off to the side, but then (Bucknell) came in with a great offer that I couldn’t pass up. It’s an amazing school and I could see myself there in the future.”

Chakos signed her national letter of intent earlier this week to compete in track and field at Bucknell.

A two-time state qualifier in the long jump, Chakos placed 21st in the last year’s PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University with a distance of 16-04.

In 2017, a jump of 16-07.75 in the finals was good for 20th place.

“Even though I’ve been to states the past two years, I haven’t done as well as I’ve hoped,” Chakos said. “I’m looking forward to going back this year and have been working hard to make it on the podium.”

Chakos qualified for the state meet by placing fifth at the WPIAL championships. She barely missed qualifying for the triple jump with an eighth-place finish at the district meet.

Also playing basketball and soccer at Trinity, Chakos is part of the 400-meter relay team that broke a 32-year-old school record. Kayla Gandy, Sydney Abbondanza, Faith Gandy and Chakos broke the record with a time of 48.69 last May.

She will do the jumping events at Bucknell and possibly compete in the heptathlon.

Bruce commits to Dayton: Peters Township junior tennis player Connor Bruce orally committed to play for the University of Dayton.

Bruce, who won the WPIAL Class AAA individual championship as a freshman, is a two-time section champion and two-time WPIAL finalist, finishing as the runner-up last spring.

In basketball

Canon-McMillan boys basketball player Elliott Waller committed to Marietta College. South Fayette girls basketball players Skyler Aitken and Maura Castelluci committed to Point Park University and Wheeling Jesuit University, respectively.

In soccer

A pair of Ringgold High School boys soccer players will remain teammates in college. Kobe Norfleet and Jeff Soles both signed with California University. Norfleet scored 24 goals for the Rams this season and was named to the all-section team. … South Fayette girls soccer player Helina VanBibber committed to Case Western Reserve University. VanBibber also was a kicker on the Lions’ football team. Her teammate, Faith Fallick, committed to play soccer at Waynesburg. Fallick will eventually be trying to score goals on Candalaria Kossel. The Bentworth goalkeeper, who helped lead the Bearcats to their first WPIAL championship appearance, committed to play at Saint Vincent College. … South Fayette boys soccer player Dan Rodgers signed to play at California.

In football

Wyatt Hirt, a Canonsburg resident who played quarterback at Linsly High School in Wheeling, W.Va., committed to California. In seven games, the 6-3, 185-pound quarterback threw for 1,384 yards and 16 touchdowns.