On November 8, three Bears signed their National Letters of Intent to compete at the college level next year in their respective sports.

Abby Walters, a first-year senior, committed to the Utica University women’s gymnastics team, which will begin its inaugural year of competition this January.

Mairead Retizel committed to Bowdoin College, whose sailing program is among the best in the country. The Polar Bears’ women’s sail team was ranked 15th in the nation last spring in a poll that included Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Boston College, and Brown. Reitzel has been an indispensable part of the sail team’s success in recent years, helping them win five League Championships, two New York State Championships, and the program’s first MASSA Silver Fleet title while helping the Bears earn their highest finish at the Atlantic Coast Championships along with a pair of National Championship berths.

Andreas Simoni joined the Bears as a basketball recruit last year and had never tried rowing until last spring when on his second day on the indoor erg, he pulled a 6:28 for a 2,000-meter split that immediately put him on the radar of Division I teams. He committed to the University of California, Berkley, one of the highest-ranked rowing programs in the country.

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