February 1 was Signing Day and student athletes all over the country signed Letters of Intent to participate in athletics at the collegiate level. At Westerville North High School, friends, family members, coaches, staff and teammates gathered in the Atrium to watch and celebrate as four stellar soccer players officially announced their intentions to move on to the next level. They are Abigail Gruber, Camryn Lykins, Adison Preston, and Karli Royer.
Abigail Gruber has decided to continue her soccer career at Capital University where she will major in Nursing with a possible emphasis on Psychiatry. Gruber is excited to join the Crusaders, who are coached by Matt Ogden, and is hoping to make an impact as a freshman. She was a four-year letter winner and four-year starter for the Westerville North Warriors under Coach Brett Weiss. She captained the Warriors this year and contributed three goals and six assists while anchoring a back line that had eight clean sheets. As a senior, Gruber was selected Second Team All-OCC and was selected Special Mention All-OCC as a junior. She had four goals during her high school career. She was also a scholar athlete all four years, a member of the National Honor Society, and a student mentor. While in high school, Gruber volunteered at Miracle League Baseball and at CHA Animal Shelter. She plays club soccer for Club Ohio Green, based out of Dublin, where Daniel Wigg coaches her. Her club team is consistently ranked in the top five in Ohio South, according to GotSoccer, and they were State Cup semi-finalists in 2015. Her parents are John and Heather Gruber.
Camryn Lykins will be continuing her academic and athletic careers at the Ohio Wesleyan University in the fall of 2017. She plans to major in Chemistry and Pre-Medicine. She has been on the honor roll and has held a 4.0 GPA all four years of high school. She is also a member of the National Honor Society. Lykins has participated in soccer all four years of high school, playing Varsity during her last two years. She was also a captain of the girls Varsity soccer team her senior year. Her parents are Ross and Julie Lykins.
Adison Preston has played soccer at Westerville North for the past four years (on the varsity squad for the past three years.) She will continue pursuing her passion for soccer as a scholarship athlete at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, under Coach Daniel Seiffert. Preston started playing club soccer in fourth grade, for New Albany Freedom, then transitioning to Columbus Blast FC where she played for seven years. She currently she plays for Club Ohio under Coach Mo Raczyk. Preston holds a cumulative GPA of 4.49 and is ranked in the top 10 of her class. She is a member of National Honor Society, and also plays varsity basketball at North. Outside of school, Preston dances at Leap of Faith Dance Company and is very involved in the youth group at Westerville Nazarene. Her parents are Chuck and Kim Preston and she has three siblings – Taiylor, Emylee, and Lance. Preston is looking forward to this next phase of her life, when she plans to continue developing in soccer and to study nursing.
Karli Royer has played both soccer and basketball at Westerville North during her High School career, earning seven Varsity Letters. On the soccer field, she was Player of the Year in the OCC-Buckeye Division, 1st Team All OCC and 2nd Team All-State her Junior and Senior year. On top of excelling at both sports, she maintained a 4.4 GPA academically. Royer has dutifully managed to balance sports and academics. Her passion for both are leading her to continue her career at the University of Cincinnati with aspirations to study either Engineering or Physical Therapy. Her parents are Bruce Royer and Penni Myser.