Butler’s Miller, Everton joining PSAC schools

By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP — Two more Butler girls lacrosse players are joining the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Golden Tornado seniors Lauren Miller and Reanna Everton signed letters of intent last week to continue their academic and lacrosse careers at Gannon and Slippery Rock, respectively.
Miller is a defender for Butler, but may move to midfield for the Golden Knights while Everton will play midfield for The Rock.
“Both of those girls will be great additions for those schools,” first-year Butler lacrosse coach Rachel Wilson said. “I can see them contributing right away.”
Everton will join former Tornado teammate Morgan McLaughlin, now a sophomore at SRU. Bailey Kraus, a 2013 Butler graduate, joined West Chester’s lacrosse team last year.
“We had 14 seniors graduate from this team last year,” Wilson said. “Lauren is one of our captains this year and Reanna always gives speeches to the girls to get them to play at a more intense level.
“We’ve been struggling to win games, but those two have been real bright spots.”
Miller began playing lacrosse in eighth grade. She played soccer from third grade through her freshman year before suffering a broken collarbone.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing a sport in college and opportunities presented themselves in lacrosse,” she said. “Every single lacrosse team I’ve been on, it’s been like a family.
“Everybody is so close and connected.”
Miller also considered Alderson-Broaddus in West Virginia before opting for Gannon. She plans to major in nursing there.
The Golden Knights are 6-9 this season, on the way to their first losing campaign in the 19-year history of the program. Lindsey Lowman is in her fourth year as head coach at Gannon.
“When I visited there, I really liked the coach and I blended in more with the team than others I visited,” Miller said. “I’m fairly tall (5-foot-9), so they like me as a midfielder. I played that position at Butler before this year.
“My goals are to play (at Gannon) all four years and be a factor in contributing to winning teams.”
Before concentrating on lacrosse, Everton played soccer as a youngster, danced for seven years, did gymnastics, played softball, participated in taekwondo and mixed martial arts.
“I was into everything,” she said. “My brother got into lacrosse when he was 8 or 9 and I started getting interested in the sport from watching his games.
“I began playing in seventh grade and hated it. I wasn’t good at all. Then I started understanding it, became more focused and led our team in scoring in eighth grade. My confidence went way up.”
Everton missed Butler’s first few games this season with a concussion. She returned to the lineup and has scored five goals in the past two games.
Everton scored 55 goals last season, approximately 20 in her freshman and sophomore campaigns. She is around 100 for her career.
“I feel like I can do well on the offensive side at Slippery Rock, score some goals and help win some games,” she said. “I’ve always been a fast player who can get open.”
Emily Hopkins is in her eighth year as SRU coach. The Rock did not win a game in 2007 or 2008, but Hopkins led the team to a school-record 12 wins in 2012 and the team is 8-7 so far this spring, 6-4 in the PSAC.
Since the beginning of the 2011 season, The Rock is 45-37.
“It’s a program that’s coming,” Everton said.
Everton plans to study criminology/psychology at SRU.