Lawrence High senior Rebecca Finley has always been a dominant thrower in track and field since she started competing in the sport in the fourth grade. She always figured she’d have a chance to compete in college.

On Wednesday afternoon, Finley made that dream a reality when she signed with Colorado State University and held her signing ceremony in the LHS library.

“I was really excited,” said Finley, who was sporting a CSU long-sleeve shirt. “I was really nervous, too, just because I knew a lot of people would be here. But it was cool.”

Finley ranks among the best throwers in school history, taking second place in the discus at the Class 6A state meet for the past two years behind her twin sister, Matia. She finished sixth in her freshman year.

In the shot put, she finished eighth at the state meet as a sophomore and seventh last year.

Lawrence High School senior track and field athlete Rebecca Finley, left, sits with senior basketball player Marissa Pope, right, during a letter of intent signing Wednesday at LHS. Finley signed with Div. 1 Colorado State Pope will play basketball at Cowley County Community College.

“Throwing comes easily to these two,” LHS track and field coach Jack Hood said about the Finley twins. “Classwork … I didn’t know what kind of work ethic Rebecca had. I had her in class, and it amazed me how much effort she was willing to put in to be a good student. To me that matters as much as anything else.”

Finley grew up in Salida, Colorado, and still travels back to Colorado in the summer after the track and field season ends. She chose Colorado State over runner-up San Diego State because of familiarity with the area and a coach she believes can push her to the next level in her throwing career.

She broke the LHS school record in the discus last year, shattering the old mark by more than six feet. One week later, Matia Finley broke her sister’s record and still holds the mark. Hood said it has always been easy to coach the Finley twins, but his proudest moment coaching Rebecca was the way she bounced back after she lost the school record so quickly.

“She got up determined to do something about it,” Hood said. “She started being more consistent in the shot (put), more consistent in the discus, she got in weights class. … She doesn’t give up and she continues to push on.”

Finley has always been confident she’d compete at the collegiate level. Her older brother, Mason, was a two-time Big 12 outdoor champion shot-putter at Kansas University, and he set the national high school record in the discus, which also helped put attention on the accomplishments of his younger sisters. Matia Finley is still undecided on her college destination.

“My dad always said, like, if we didn’t do track in college, we’d be flipping burgers,” Finley joked. “I had no choice.”

Though Finley has plenty of natural talent, she was proud of the work she put in during practices to become even better.

“It’s really cool,” she said. “It took a lot of work but it was obviously worth it.”

Lawrence senior point guard Marissa Pope also signed her letter of intent to play basketball at Cowley County next season.

Pope was a four-year starter for the Lions and earned second-team All-Sunflower League honors after averaging 12.1 points and 3.4 assists per game.