April
28, 2005
NORTH JERSEY -- The weather is getting warmer and spring sports have begun in earnest throughout North Jersey but for Caitlin Colesanti it's still soccer season.
Actually, for the past four years it has always been soccer season for Colesanti. Despite running track during her freshman and sophomore years, the hardnosed Holy Angels' defender has been playing soccer 12 months a year for her entire high school career in addition to a full plate of non-athletic extracurricular activities and grueling workout schedule.
Colesanti played varsity as a freshman and was one of a handful of Holy Angels players who breathed life into to what had been a dead program.
After just three wins, and two coaches, during her freshman season, Colesanti and Holy Angels started to come around her sophomore year under the direction of first year coach Dave McGregor.
The Angels had the best season in school history during Colesanti's junior campaign, making it to the section semifinals, and followed that with state and county playoff berths her senior season.
"Going to AHA I knew what I was getting myself into, I understood that I wouldn't be going to the best program and that it was going to take hard work," Colesanti said. "Seeing our (AHA) record and seeing where we've come from I would definitely say that it has helped me very much."
This year, the soon-to-be graduate was the first soccer player in school history to be selected First Team All-Bergen County and, not surprisingly, will be continuing her soccer career at the collegiate level when she attends Williams College in the fall.
"Being (at Williams) and seeing them play, I knew that was something I wanted to be a part of," said Colesanti, who used The Recruiting Network on NorthJerseySports.com to produce a highlight video to distribute to college coaches. "I'm looking forward to being able to experience something more."
The process of picking a college was almost as difficult as Colesanti's workout regiment. She was recruited by an array of Division 1 and Division 3 schools with Yale, Holy Cross, Johns Hopkins, Elon and, of course, Williams, showing strong interest.
"The goal was to look for the best possible academics and soccer combined," Colesanti said. "Then it was narrowed down between Yale and Williams, those were my top two. I visited Williams and then Yale and then I made my decision."
Williams is a very prestigious school located Massachusetts. It has a wonderful reputation both academically and athletically. But for Colesanti it just felt right.
"Academically, Holy Angels has prepared me very well for going to college," Colesanti said. "I could tell by seeing a team play if I was that type of player, if I fit the mold.
"My final decision came down to the coach and the players. I just got a good feeling at Williams. I got the feeling I could go there, soccer or not."
As successful as Colesanti's high school career was, her play on various club teams may have been even more important. Most recently, she played with the New Jersey Wildcats U17/U18 throughout her sophomore and junior years and moved on to the Eastchester Patriots U18 (NY) this past August.
"The (club) teams I played on were very good," Colesanti said. "Throughout my (senior) high school season I was practicing with my club team and playing some games. After the high school season there were several other tournaments I played in, both indoor and outdoor.
"Now, I'm at the same place with them. Practice twice a week (with the Eastchester Patriots), games on weekends, tournaments. I lift twice a week and that will be my steady range."
"I think most of the recruiting, now, for soccer and basketball comes from the club teams," added Sue Colesanti, Caitlin's mother. "Certainly your high school play is important but most of the recruiting comes from the club circuit.
"The video we got from NorthJerseySports.com was particularly effective because we choose to do one for the club season and one for the high school season. It really came out terrific and there was a great response from college coaches. Some of them even left messages referring specifically to parts of the video. It really worked."
The rock-solid 5-foot-2, 125-pound is more than just a great athlete, though, she is an excellent student. Colesanti has 3.78 GPA and scored an impressive 1410 on her SATs.
Colesanti was very active in student government at Holy Angels as a Student Council Representative in 2001 and 2002 and the Senior Class Secretary this year. She was also the co-president of the Student Athletic Organization for the past two years in addition to receiving the Scholar-Athlete Award all four years of high school.
"I really can't wait (to start playing at Williams)," said Colesanti. "As difficult as people say preseason is, I'm really looking forward to it."
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