Marissa Laurin (L), Lacie Robideau (R). Photo credits: Grande Prairie Piranhas Swim Club Facebook page.

By Curtis Galbraith

Local Sports

Peace Country athletes earn scholarships to American universities

Feb 8, 2024 | 8:00 AM

Local athletes have been busy earning scholarships to American universities lately.

The Grande Prairie Piranhas Swim Team says two of its athletes will be heading south for school after finishing Grade 12.

Marissa Laurin will be joining the University of Nebraska, where she plans to enroll in a Business and Law Degree Program.

“I am excited to be attending the University of Nebraska! Thank you to my family, friends, grandparents, and coach for their constant support,” says Laurin in a release from the Piranhas.

Lacie Robideau is going to the University of Jamestown in North Dakota to study nursing.

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“I would like to thank my coaches and the Grande Prairie Piranhas Swim Club for helping me to achieve my goals and succeed as a swimmer. I look forward to representing the Piranhas at the University of Jamestown North Dakota,” says Robideau in that same release.

Director of Swimming, Alex Dawson added the following in the same release:

“My coaches and I have had the opportunity to coach these individuals since they were young girls and getting to see them move on and continue their swim careers is really rewarding. Getting to the point of being able to attend university and continue swimming is the result of a lot of hard work from swimmers, (the) coaching staff and parents.”

They join two other swimmers who earned scholarships while with the Piranhas.

Cat Minic is in her third year at Indiana University. Jordan Greber will head to Arizona State University this fall.

The Peace Country Female Athletic Club shared on social media in November that two former players were headed to Division 1 schools on hockey scholarships.

Rylee McLeod of Grande Prairie signed with Syracuse University. Bay Tree’s Molly Hamilton signed with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Both are based in New York state.

McLeod and Hamilton are both currently playing U18 AAA hockey with a team in Red Deer. Both also played for Team Alberta at the U18 National Women’s Hockey Championship held in November of 2023 in Dawson Creek.

Spirit River’s Dayle Ross is in her third year with the women’s hockey team at St. Cloud State in Minnesota.

It’s not just swimmers and hockey players either.

Grande Prairie’s Mairen Lawson is in her first year on a cycling scholarship with Marian University, which is located in Indiana.

Baseball player Tyler Herron from Grande Prairie, is a catcher with Illinois State University based in Normal, Illinois.

If there is someone missing from this list, please let us know by emailing everythinggp@pattisonmedia.com