It was an eventful day for Daviess County athletics, as Haley Wolfe, Bentlei Stallings, Bailey Brown, and Kaelin Labhart all signed letters to compete at the college level. Wolfe and Stallings will attend Western Kentucky University and Austin Peay State University, respectively, for cross country and track. At the same time, the soccer duo of Brown and Labhart is headed to Kentucky Wesleyan College and Centre College.
Over their four years at Daviess County together, Wolfe and Stallings won four cross country region titles and a track region title. Wolfe heard from multiple schools, including Transylvania University and University of the Cumberlands, but appreciated the closeness in distance from her hometown to Western Kentucky.
“I really like the cross country program because the coach seems to really care about his individual runners and how much success we can have as individuals,” Wolfe said. “That is something that is super important to me. I really like the school environment, and I have a few friends who go there, and they really love it. That was very important to me to know that I was going to like it there.”
Wolfe realized during her junior year that she had the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level. She will be running both cross country and track, and in the classroom, she will be majoring in health sciences.
“This feels great,” Wolfe said. “I honestly never thought that I would, so it is a dream come true for me.”
Stallings enjoyed her communications with the coaching staff at Austin Peay and acknowledged that she felt very welcomed by the school’s surrounding community.
“I talked to three other schools and then two more on the phone, but the campus really sold me,” Stallings said. “The campus is super pretty, and I really like the coaching staff.”
Originally, she wanted to move out of state, which was ideally around six hours away.
“The schools that I looked at that were six hours away weren’t near a big city, and I wanted a city feeling for my college experience,” Stallings said. “This one was near Nashville, and I was like ok I want to go somewhere near a big city.”
Competing in both cross country and track, she will be running the 800 and 1500 as well as the 4×4. In the classroom, she will be majoring in nursing and minoring in journalism.
While it wasn’t planned, Stallings and Wolfe signed their college letters together, a moment that was special to the duo.
“Haley has been one of my best friends these past four years, and I am just really glad to be able to share our signing together and our recruitment process together,” Stallings said. “It’s very heartwarming.”
Brown and Labhart have been a part of a Lady Panthers soccer dynasty that has won three 9th District titles and three 3rd Region titles. This past season, they also advanced to the second round of the State Tournament.
One of the team’s top playmakers, Brown finished the season second in assists (11), third in points (25), and fourth in goals (7). She wanted to stay close to home and acknowledged her familiarity with KWC’s coaching staff.
“I like the team environment there,” Brown said. “It really feels like a family, and that’s really what pushed me over the edge. I also know Ty and Annie since I was little. He was my first soccer coach ever.”
Brown also considered Georgetown College, University of Southern Indiana, and Hanover College, but KWC’s team and staying in Owensboro won over. While at KWC, she plans to study exercise science.
The Lady Panthers’ goalie, Labhart, finished the year with 115 saves and eight shutouts, while allowing a measly 24 goals.
During her freshman season, Labhart started hearing from schools, with the process picking up throughout her high school career. She spoke with multiple schools, including KWC and USI, but was attracted to Centre due to its academics, athletic environment, culture, and reputation.
“I visited twice. I visited once in the fall and again in the spring,” Labhart said. “It is a gorgeous campus with beautiful facilities and really good professors. I got to meet the professors and see what their classes would be like, and what it would be like to be a student athlete.”
She plans to major in biology and minor in psychology, with the goal of eventually becoming a pediatrician. Labhart acknowledged how happy she was to be able to sign her college letter alongside her childhood friend and longtime teammate.
“Growing up together, I don’t think either Bailey or I realized what we were going to do,” Labhart said. “It was just a privilege to have a childhood friend and teammate and be able to share this moment with her.”
