EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville girls soccer defender-midfielder Katrina Agustin signed a letter-of-intent to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., on Thursday in a ceremony at Edwardsville High School.
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Agustin will begin playing for the Fightin’ Engineers this fall at the NCAA Division-III school, considered one of the nation’s top engineering schools.
“They have the number one undergraduate engineering program in the country,” Agustin said when asked why she chose RHIT, “and I knew that what I was going to go into, so I decided education, then I was able to play soccer, so that was just a nice little plus.”
Agustin also considered Missouri S&T in Rolla, Alabama-Huntsville, Illinois and Purdue before deciding on Rose-Hulman, and cited many reasons in making her decision.
“It’s a smaller school, and very step-focused,” Agustin said, “so they don’t have a master’s degree, they only have the undergrad. It really focuses on the undergraduate education in providing opportunities and connections for freshmen and sophomores, and not just seniors.”
Agustin has been in contact with the women’s soccer team and its coach, Amy Helliwell, since her junior year, and feels she’ll fit in with the team right away.
“The coach was very nice, very welcoming for my first visit junior year,” Agustin said, “and then we kept talking more, and then I also did an overnight thing for engineering, and my host was a soccer player, so we got along well, and it seems like a very nice, welcoming fit.”
Tigers’ coach Abby Federmann is very proud of Agustin, and feels that she’ll do very well at RHIT.
“I think it’s a great fit for her,” Federmann said. “Academically, Katrina thrives, and she loves the game, so I think this is going to be a very good fit for both academics and athletics for her.”
Federmann also believes that Agustin will perfectly mix both the academic and athletic life of the school perfectly.
“It’s great,” Federmann said, “and she’s also going to be able to do something she loves along what her job will be as a student of engineering at one of these top schools, and she’ll still have that game that she loves, and make some good friends on the field.”
Federmann has very high hopes for Agustin while she attends Rose-Hulman, and has no question that she’ll do very well.
“I have no doubt in my mind that she’s going to be successful at anything that she tries,” Federmann said. “She’s a very hard worker, and she’s got such a positive attitude. I’m sure she’ll come out with an outstanding degree, a great GPA, and move on to her master’s and get a great job, no doubt in my mind. Just very proud of her.”
Agustin plans on majoring in either mechanical or electrical engineering at Rose-Hulman, and has many great memories of her time as a player for the Tigers.
“I think my favorite memories are just, I’ve always been close with the girls that are still there, even from freshman year,’ Agustin said, “and just thinking about our journey, and especially senior season; it’s really bittersweet throughout the whole thing.”
Agustin isn’t sure if she’ll continue on in soccer after graduating from college, but is looking ahead to her future.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Agustin said, “just ready for whatever life gives me,” she said with a smile.
Agustin is also an accomplished violinist, and took up both the violin and soccer while following in the footsteps of an older brother.
“So, it’s the same thing with soccer,” Agustin said. “I have an older brother who’s seven years older, and when I was little, he was my biggest role model, so I just did pretty much whatever he did. So he did soccer, I did soccer. He did violin, I did violin, and I just stuck with them both ever since.”
Agustin is excited to see what lies ahead at Rose-Hulman, and can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
“I’m just really excited to see what Rose can do for me,” Agustin said, “in terms of my education and my athletics, and just the whole college experience.”
