Quaker Valley’s college signings for 2025-26 hit double figures in December.
A total of 10 senior athletes at QV finalized their college commitments last month including Todd Kagle (Frostburg State baseball), Meredith Fallgren (Christopher Newport lacrosse), Bruce Anderchak (Mercyhurst wrestling), River Capek (Haverford cross country and track and field) and Alexa Westwood (Grove City lacrosse).
Kagle is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-handed pitcher/shortstop/third baseman. He was recruited as a pitcher by Frostburg State, located in Western Maryland.
“The baseball team has been successful over the past couple years, making a run in the MEC tournament four years in a row,” said Kagle, who has a 3.7 GPA. “It’s a great opportunity and felt like the best overall fit for me. I also really liked the coaches.”
Fallgren is a midfielder/defender on the QV girls lacrosse team. She also participates in Student Council, Key Club and Letters of Love.
The 5-2 Fallgren actually made an early commitment to Christopher Newport, located in Newport News, Va.
“Christopher Newport University has a great balance of academics and athletics. They also have excellent facilities,” Fallgren said. “The lacrosse program is amazing. They are a very competitive team. They have a great team culture that I’m excited to be a part of, and they are a very competitive team.”
Christopher Newport proved to be the frontrunner for Fallgren.
“CNU was the first school I visited,” she said. “After being there, I kept comparing the other schools I visited against it. It always just stood out to me. CNU plays a very challenging schedule, and they often are in the (Division III) NCAA Tournament. I was impressed by how hard they work playing that schedule.
“In addition, CNU is bigger than other schools I looked at, has great academics and offers a lot of majors. It is also beautiful and near the beach.”
Fallgren is looking to majoring in business and also has an interest in sports management.
Capek (5-10, 140) competes mainly in the 400- and 800-meter races on the track. He plans to pursue a double major in biology and psychology on a premed track and has a weighted GPA of 4.54.
“I decided to sign with Haverford because it is an academically strong school and the track team has shown a lot of success over the years,” Capek said. “Haverford is a small liberal arts school outside of Philadelphia and is pretty academically competitive. The track and field and cross country programs have seen a lot of success in the past, including sending many track athletes to NCAA nationals in the past years.
“There are also very strong community and honor values at Haverford, which I appreciate a lot.”
Rounding out the 10-pack of recent college signings at QV are Henry Zupanc (Saint Vincent baseball), Eoin Parnell (West Liberty wrestling), Makenna Kamnikar (Mount St. Mary’s golf), Jayden Juliano (Long Island track and field) and Mimi Thiero (Maryland basketball).
The 6-1, 175-pound Zupanc is a pitcher/outfielder who plans to major in sports management in college.
“I chose Saint Vincent because it felt like the best fit for me with both my academic and athletic goals,” Zupanc said. “I really liked the campus environment and the coaching staff’s approach to the game.
“Saint Vincent emphasizes strong academics, character building and community. The baseball program is competitive and focused on player development on and off the field, and I like the culture around the team that the program promotes.”
Zupanc also was on the boys golf team at QV and participates in the sports medicine club.
“I take pride in working hard, being a good teammate and leader, and I’m excited to contribute to the Saint Vincent baseball program,” he said.
Zupanc was a .300 hitter last season with four triples.
Parnell (5-4, 120) has been a member of the QV wrestling program for four years. He has been unable to compete this season because of an injury that surgery will address.
“However, I’m still going to be as active as possible on the team as a captain,” he said, “and try to do as much as I can with the team.”
Parnell has a 4.18 GPA, is a peer jury member and plans to major in prelaw at West Liberty.
“I felt that the culture they’ve built in their wrestling program would benefit me the most and help me build to my fullest potential,” Parnell said. “I also feel at home there. The people are amazing and overall it just felt right.
“The wrestling program is run by head coach Danny Irwin, who I have known and built a really good connection with over the past few years. I know their assistant coach Alec Cook as well, who I wrestled with at my wrestling club since I was 5. They truly operate as a family and really make you feel comfortable and at home. And to add, signing with West Liberty was not an easy decision, but through their guidance and advice of my parents and my coaches, the answer became pretty clear.”