Polk County High School senior Emily Miller signed a letter of intent Wednesday, Feb. 6 to play soccer for St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C.

Emily said she chose St. Andrews because of its academics, while playing soccer there has come as an added bonus.

“They have a program there focusing on biology and equines sciences, which is what I’m hoping to study,” Emily said. “But I never thought I’d have the opportunity to play soccer in college so getting to do that too is exciting.”

Emily’s family said they are delighted to see her get the chance to be involved in college athletics as well.

“She really had to battle last year with her injuries,” said Emily’s father, Jeff, of her effort to regain health and strength following surgery for a torn ACL and a pulled thigh muscle the year before last.

“They [coaches Lennox Charles and Will Pack] pushed her when she needed them to and backed off when she needed to rest,” mother, Julie, said.

Coach Charles said unfortunately he can only imagine the difference Emily would have made on the team had she been healthy her whole high school career. He said freshman year, Emily was the best defender he had on junior varsity. He said had it not been for injuries her sophomore year he believes she would have had an opportunity to shine early on varsity. When Emily did come off the bench and out of injury in her junior season, she made a real difference, he said.

“It worked out well when she came off the bench last year,” Charles said. “In those instances she definitely made a big impact. When we played Hendersonville for the second time in the season, she created three chances on goal for her teammates within the first 15 minutes.”