MOSES LAKE — Two seniors at Moses Lake High School signed with colleges across the country this past week to pursue their respective sports.

The first athlete was Laurel Knox. She signed to swim with the University of Jamestown, which is a private university located in Jamestown, North Dakota.

“I'm most excited about establishing myself outside of my current swim team. I'm really grateful for my swim team and how it has gotten me to this point to be able to go to college for sports. But I'm ready to become a different athlete and be around girls that are very much closer to my age. And just be able to become more of my own person,” Knox said.

Knox said she has been a part of swimming for the past six to seven years between high school and club leagues. She said she tried swimming out just to see what it was like and immediately fell in love with it.

“It's been a hard journey to be able to go to college for swimming,” said Knox. “It's something after my freshman season, I was kind of shocked by the level of competition and how hard it was actually to be successful in high school swimming and to be able to be recognized for your achievements.”

Knox said she wants to study business at college and is interested in becoming a financial planner or work in international business. She attributes her interest in business to her dad and grandfather, who own their own businesses.

The second athlete is a recent transplant to Moses Lake. Jermaine Burrell moved to Moses Lake in November and was offered an athletic scholarship to McDougle Technical Institute in Pompano Beach, Florida, for football.

Burrell has moved around a lot in the last few years but he grew up, and most of his family still lives, in Philadelphia.

He said he has played football since he was 5 years old and that playing college football is something he has always wanted to do.

Burrell wants to become a physical therapist or kinesiologist for athletes, but is also interested in becoming a real estate agent.

“I wanted to do the health care-type thing, because my mom always got on me, like if I were to get hurt, what would happen, like what would my backup plan be? And I think those people who go in a field that help other people who're injured, those are the most important people because, without them, there wouldn't be any athletes,” said Burrell.

Both athletes were offered athletic scholarships and also had upcoming interviews for academic scholarships to their respective universities.

They also had numerous people they wanted to thank and acknowledge for their part in their success.

Knox wanted to thank firstly her parents for all the time, love and support they have given her to allow her to swim and become a better swimmer over the years. She also wanted to thank three of her coaches, her Moses Lake Manta Rays swim club coach Bonnie Washburn, Moses Lake High School swim coach Lindy Tracey and her previous high school swim coach Tony St.Onge, who has since passed away.

Burrell wanted to thank not just his coaches he's had over the years but most importantly his family as well. He was grateful to his brothers for always getting him to workout and practice and to his mom for sacrificing so much to send him across the country to give him better opportunities in both football and life.

Rebecca Pettingill can be reached via email at [email protected].