Today Lady Rattlers senior midfielder/forward Kate Benne signed her official letter of intent to play soccer for Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tennessee. Kate is a four-year letterman and 2021 team captain. Kate earned All-District Honorable Mention honors as a sophomore and All-District Second Team and All-Region First Team honors as a junior. She has also been named Academic All-District. In addition to soccer, Kate is a four-year letterman in track and three-year letterman in cross country. In her senior cross country season, Kate was a regional qualifier and received All-District First Team and Academic All-State honors.
Fittingly, we celebrate Kate’s tremendous achievement at Reagan’s signing day ceremony today on this National Girls & Women in Sports Day. #StrongerWithSports #NGWSD
Here’s what Tusculum Head Coach Mike Joy, who is the all-time South Atlantic Conference leader in wins with 276 and in his 24th season with the Pioneers, is saying about Kate: “I had the opportunity to see Kate play … and instantly noticed her pace and she finished a very nice goal. I could tell she was a versatile player and would fit in well on the outside. … I believe Kate with her pace and athleticism and her versatility as a player will transition nicely into NCAA collegiate soccer, and we have big expectations for her on the field, and are very excited she will be on our team. I was also very impressed with her interest and research into her academic major … We expect she will be an outstanding student athlete and be successful in the classroom as well as on the field.”
Tusculum Women’s Soccer by the numbers (1998-2018): 20 consecutive winning seasons, 20 seasons ranked in the Southeast Region Top 10, 9 South Atlantic Conference Championships, 5 NCAA Tournaments, 3 NCAA Sweet 16s, and 2006 Elite 8 and Southeast Region Champions.
You can keep up with Kate next year @TusculumWSOC @TusculumSports.
Congratulations and best wishes to Kate as she pursues her academic and soccer goals and dreams! Go Pioneers! #PioneerUp #WeArePioneers
#RattlerPride #WeReady #StrikeEm @ReaganGirlsSoccer @RattlerGirlsSA @RattlerGirlsSoccer
Photo courtesy of Joe Calomeni at Rattlerpics.com. Thank you, Joe!