Free State senior Emily Bermel gets a hug from her softball coach Lee Ice after Bermel signed a letter of intent, Wednesday, Nov. 20, to play softball next year with KU.

Last week, Free State High senior swimmer Eliza Anderson was stressed about making a decision on where to go to college. She was pressed up against the fall signing period deadline, which was Wednesday, and kept trying to go through the pros and cons of each of her finalists.

Finally on Sunday, she decided she wanted to join the University of Rhode Island’s women’s swimming team. She made it official by signing her letter of intent on Wednesday in the FSHS band room — she’s played the trombone since the fifth grade — though she was briefly delayed by a pen that wouldn’t write.

Anderson’s signing was about 30 minutes after FSHS softball standout Emily Bermel held her ceremony in the library, as she sent in her letter of intent to play at Kansas University last week.

“It’s just a complete relief and it’s so good to go through my senior year knowing where I’m going, and have that all done and over with,” Anderson said. “I’m so excited to be going to Rhode Island because it’s so beautiful and has so many opportunities.”

Anderson is a three-time 6A state swimming champion in relays, including swimming the second leg of the state-record 200-yard freestyle relay in 2013, and she’s also medaled in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke for the past two seasons.

She narrowed her school choices to Rhode Island and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and picked URI after listening to plenty of advice from friends, counselors and others. One of the main factors was academics, as Anderson wants to study pharmacy and at Rhode Island she could get her degree in six years, compared to eight at UNO.

“I love the program, and I love the team and the school,” Anderson said. “So it’s just perfect.”

Meanwhile, Bermel had committed to Kansas for more than a year, but that didn’t take away from excitement in her signing ceremony.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for as long as I can remember,” Bermel said. “Just for it to be done is super exciting and I’m just ready for the next step.”

Bermel, who earned first-team All-State and All-Sunflower League honors last year, had a team-high .645 batting average for the Firebirds. She also scored a team-best 33 runs while adding 15 RBIs and eight stolen bases.

One connection she already has with KU is that her dad, Jamie, is the men’s golf coach. It’s also a big reason why she wanted to play for the Jayhawks.

“If I went to another school, he probably wouldn’t have been able to see me play,” Bermel said. “I haven’t lived in Lawrence my whole life. I love the town. I love the school, so it was just a cherry on top that my dad could see me play, too.”

Free State infielder Cooper Karlin also held his signing ceremony with Bermel, as he signed his letter of intent last week to play in Pittsburg State’s baseball program. Karlin started at shortstop for the Firebirds last season.