Although Colleen Durfee and Kara Concheck did not start playing lacrosse until high school, The Wellington School seniors will continue their careers at the Division I college level.
On Nov. 11, the first day of the NCAA's fall signing period, Durfee, the Jaguars' goalkeeper, signed to play for Brown University in Providence, R.I., and Concheck, an attacker, signed with Fresno (Calif.) State.
"I believe that is the biggest honor," Concheck said. "My whole life I wanted to play a Division I sport, and I finally have achieved that goal."
Both players were talked into playing lacrosse by former coach Adam Stewart, now an assistant coach with Denison University. Once he talked Durfee into playing, he had to convince her to be a goalie.
"I was planning on playing in the field," Durfee said. "We had a field trip one day and one of my counselors said, 'So, how do you feel about playing goalie?' I was like, 'What are you talking about?'
"I got back to school and found out our goalie (graduate Eliza Miller) broke her collarbone in a skiing accident. So the entire team asked me, 'Would you like to be our goalie?' I was like, 'Yeah, I will give it a try.' The whole thing stuck."
The more Durfee played the position, the more she began to enjoy it, and the more she began to shift her focus from playing basketball in college to playing lacrosse.
As a member of the Ivy League, Brown doesn't offer athletic scholarships, but Durfee earned an academic scholarship.
The Bears, who finished 7-8 last season, are coached by Columbus School for Girls graduate Keely McDonald and their roster includes two players from central Ohio -- sophomore midfielder Nancy Baker, a 2008 Upper Arlington graduate, and junior defender Tori Conway, a 2007 UA graduate.
Brown has two sophomores and a freshman at goalie, but Durfee believes that will give her time to adjust to the collegiate level.
"(McDonald) told me she likes to recruit Ohio because she is from there and she feels like there's a lot of talent in the Midwest that people haven't gotten to yet," Durfee said. "It's a completely different game. It's really fast. I will have to adjust to a different tempo. It's a lot more physical."
Concheck believes she might have the opportunity to play right away for Fresno State, which is a fledgling program. The Bulldogs went 0-14 and were outscored 248-39 in their first season as a varsity program last spring.
"I want to help build a program," said Concheck, who scored 72 goals last season. "I felt like as a freshman, I could have a great impact there and I might get a lot of playing time.
"The people at Fresno are just wonderful. It's in a valley surrounded by mountains. It's beautiful, always 75 degrees. (Coach Sue Behme) is just a fantastic lady and she really cares a lot about her players, on and off the field."
Concheck is the second player from central Ohio to sign with Fresno State, joining freshman attacker/midfielder Margaret Wolford, a 2009 Worthington Kilbourne graduate.
"I know how strong of a player Margaret is and how good the incoming class is," Concheck said.
"I am not really concerned about going so far away from home. It's a great opportunity to experience things in a new environment."