On To The Next Level Black, Mulitalo Sign Letters Of Intent
With family members, teammates, coaches, friends and administrators watching, Rockbridge County High School seniors Keagan Black and Lola Mulitalo signed national letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at the Division I level Nov. 19 at RC’s outdoor pavilion.
Black signed to join the men’s swimming team at Virginia Military Institute while Mulitalo is headed to Georgia to play women’s lacrosse for Kennesaw State University.
Introducing Black and Mulitalo, RC assistant athletic director Travis Rogers said that, by looking at their grades, “You will see that they are students first, and that’s the only way this opportunity is afforded.” Rogers noted that both student-athletes go up and down the interstate for practices and competitions.
Black has been swimming for the Wildcats for five years, since he was in eighth grade, and has been a team captain for two years. He has been a first-team all-district member four times, a firstteam all-region member three times, and second-team all-state once. At the Class 3 state meet last winter, Black placed fifth in both the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard butterfly, finishing the butterfly race in a schoolrecord time of 52.1 seconds. He helped the RC boys place sixth as a team, and he was a member of two of the top relay teams in the state: the 200-yard freestyle relay team, which placed sixth, and the 200-yard medley relay team, which finished eighth.
As a sophomore, Black and three teammates placed fourth as a team at the state meet, tying the program’s highest finish. The RC boys had last placed fourth in 2004.
Black, who will study business at VMI, said he chose to sign with VMI because of “the culture of the team and the school. It’s not like any other college in America, and I’m lucky for it to be in my own backyard.” The head coach for VMI is Scott Thacker.
On the lacrosse field, Mulitalo has helped the Wildcats win their last three Region 4D championships, making three Final Four trips and two trips to the Class 4 state finals, all ending with losses to Western Albemarle, which has won the last three state titles.
Mulitalo, an attacker, was named Region 4D player of the year as a sophomore. She made the all-region and all-state first teams both her sophomore and junior years and was an All-American attacker as a junior. As a sophomore, she was named the All-American Region 3D player of the week. Mulitalo holds the all-time points record for the Wildcats, with 290 career points. She has scored 188 goals and has dished out 102 career assists. Mulitalo began her lacrosse career with the LexLax Lightning youth program in third grade, when Susan Nye recruited her. Nye has coached her since then and is getting ready for her eighth year as RC’s head coach this spring.
She said she chose Kennesaw State because it was a great location, and she has a lot of family in Georgia. Mulitalo said Kennesaw State has a great coach in Sarah Connally-Linebarger and that the players “felt so welcoming when I met them all. They’re all super kind.”
Commending Mulitalo, Nye said, “Lola’s impact goes well beyond statistics and wins. She will leave a lasting impact on the program’s culture, spirit and success. Lola has a high lacrosse IQ and intense presence on the field. She is a dynamic player with tremendous stick skills, and I am forever grateful that I was able to coach such an amazing young woman.”
