Sports

L-W North Soccer Standout Craven Signs with Valparaiso

Phoenix playmaker Rita Craven hopes to crack the Crusaders' starting lineup as a freshman, plans to study pre-med and work as a physician's assistant.

The theme for the college signing-day ceremony Thursday afternoon at Lincoln-Way North played out like one of the two songs performed by Chelsa King in the 2007 theatrical motion picture, Bratz.

“It’s All About Me.”

Only Lincoln-Way North’s Rita Craven was “All About Us” as the leader of a Phoenix girls soccer team that posted a 17-7-1 record last spring, won its second straight conference championship and second consecutive regional crown.

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Craven announced her plans to attend Valparaiso University, posed for photographs with her mother Carla and her coaches at Lincoln-Way North, Mike Murphy and Karen Iliff, and detailed her plans for the future.

An honors student (4.167 GPA) who ranks 32nd in a class of 430, she plans to study pre-med at Valpo and then pursue a Master’s degree so she can work as a physician’s assistant. She also plans to put her best foot forward in a bid to crack the Crusaders’ starting lineup as a freshman.

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Craven is a playmaking center-midfielder for Lincoln-Way North. She racked up 18 goals and 16 assists during her junior season. The Phoenix advanced to the sectional semifinals before being ousted by Homewood-Flossmoor.

“The coach at Valpo (John Marovich) scouted me when I was guest-playing for an older club team in Indiana,” Craven said. “He contacted me. It was a good school. I decided to go for a visit. I liked how small it was. It’s not really small. But I didn’t necessarily want to go to a huge school.

“I liked the campus. And it was close enough to home—but not super-close. I just met with him. We talked, and I committed in January.”

Craven has scored 47 goals in her first three years playing varsity soccer at Lincoln-Way North and as accumulated 42 assists. Lincoln-Way North athletic director Matt Lyke introduced her to an intimate gathering and congratulated her on landing a scholarship offer from a Division I soccer school.


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