By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
BRADFORD, PA – For most high school athletes, the prospect of taking the next step and playing at the collegiate level is an out-of-reach dream, something to work towards but not necessarily expect. However, on Wednesday, four Bradford athletes saw their hard work pay off as they signed their letters of intent.
In the fall, there is no better spot to congregate with the Bradford community than Parkway Field. Each Friday, hundreds of spectators fill the bleachers to cheer on their Owls. At the center of that squad is Talan Reese. For the past three years, Reese has been the man under center and has raised the bar along the way.
Through three years as a varsity starter, Reese has recorded 6,527 passing yards, a stat that stands as the Bradford program record, while also breaking the single season passing yards record during his junior year with 2,229. Completing 58 percent of his passes – 545-for-934 – he found 48 receivers in the endzone while rushing for eight touchdowns himself.
“I’m definitely grateful for my coaches and teammates. I couldn’t have asked for a better four years,” said Reese, who also plays basketball and baseball for the Owls. “I’m definitely grateful to be a part of it.”
As his tenure as an Owl comes to a close, Reese looks to keep his career alive by attending Wheeler University, a Division II program in Wheeling, West Virginia. After spending months attending camps and reaching out to different programs, Reese decided to become a Cardinal after seeing the culture in the locker room.
“The deciding factor was the coaches. We built a really strong relationship over the last couple months,” said Reese. “I can trust that their guys can develop me both as a player and a person.”
When Parkway Field wasn’t under Friday Night Lights, the Bradford girls’ soccer team was using it as a base of operations for their dominant District 9 Championship streak. For years, the Lady Owls were a force to be reckoned with, winning six consecutive D9 Class 4A championships starting in 2018.
Throughout those glory years, the torch has been passed from one offensive powerhouse to another. In 2020, Reagan Johnson handed the keys to Maddi Cowbern who, upon graduating in 2023, transferred the leadership to Kelsea Austin. Then, in 2024, the responsibility of the Lady Owls’ offense fell on Bella Prince’s shoulders, who readily accepted the task.
Throughout her four years on the pitch, Prince has been a valuable weapon in Bradfords’ arsenal. Her freshman year, she chipped in 26 goals and 27 assists before tallying 27 goals and 25 assists the following year. During her junior year, when she and Austin were running the show, Prince recorded a career-high 47 goals and 39 assists while tacking on 37 more goals and 33 more assists in her final year as a Lady Owl. In total, she ends her career as the fourth-ever 100-goal scorer in school history and second ever to both reach triple digits in both goals and assists.
“I’m definitely a little sad to be leaving but I’m just grateful I got to play with so many different people and learn from so many people,” said Prince.
While her time as a Lady Owl comes to an end this spring, her tenure as an athlete still lives on. This upcoming fall, Prince will take to the pitch as a Golden Knight, signing with Division II Gannon University in Erie. After originally planning attending school in the south, preferably Florida, Prince decided to stay close to home due to Gannon’s physicians’ assistant program.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play at the college level,” said Prince, “so it feels good to finally be committed and get it signed.”
While three of these student athletes will be saying good-bye to the fields, courts and facilities they called home for the past four years, Anthony Lama will be staying on his home turf so to speak, just in a different uniform. After finishing his last year as the Owls’ starting catcher and graduating in June, Lama will be suiting up for the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
“It feels really good to be able to play in college. I’ve been working at it for the last four years so I’m finally making the dream come true ,” said Lama, who also played football and golf for Bradford. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
During his senior year, Lama batted 0.340 with a 0.420 slugging percentage and eight extra base hits. Splitting his time both behind the plate and on the mound, Lama averaged over one strikeout per inning pitched over the past two seasons while recording a 2.88 ERA in 2024. However, while he was a staple for the Owls, his work during the summer is what earned him a spot on the Pitt-Braford roster.
“(Pitt-Bradford) said they liked to see a lot of guys swinging wood bats, which is a little different,” said Lama. “Coach (Zach Foster) reached out to me after that and we really made the process happen pretty quick.”
Playing for Bradford’s Legion team, he has contributed 22 runs and 12 stolen bases over the past two summers, batting 0.351 and 0.290, respectively. He has tallied double-digit runs batted in, four doubles, taken 16 walks and even notched a homerun this past summer.
The final Owl to sign their letter of intent on Wednesday competed with neither a ball nor a field. Instead, Bella Rhoades dominated in the lanes of the Pitt-Bradford and Bradford YMCA pool.
After competing as both an Owl and a Barracuda, Rhoades will be attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania to join the Division II Crimson Hawks swim team.
“(IUP) has a great swimming program and their team is very bonded and I just love that about them,” said Rhoades.
During her three years with Bradford, she earned three District 9 Class 4A championships and set the BAHS record in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:16.31. She qualified for the states both in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, becoming a finalist in 2024 when she took eighth for the backstroke. As a Barracuda, Rhoades became a two-time Western Pennsylvania YMCA District Champion and set western PA records in both the 1,000 and 1,650. She was also a YMCA National Qualifier for the 100 meter backstroke and will be heading to the Nationals meet this April.
“I always think about how much effort I put into the pool,” said Rhoades. “I’ve spent over 13 years in this sport and it feels good to see it all pay off finally.”
