By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Bishop LeBlond senior and multi-sport athlete Emma Raines signed her letter of intent for Culver-Stockton women's soccer on Friday.
Raines, who's had a fruitful athletic career for the Golden Eagles in volleyball and girls' basketball as well, has played on defense for LeBlond in soccer, helping the Eagles to a district title in 2021 and a 12-7 record in 2022.
"This is really exciting for me," Raines said of her signing. "Especially going to the school my mom graduated from really means a lot to me. Glad I get to continue my soccer career and education at a school that I know will be really beneficial to me."
For Raines, the dream of playing soccer at the next level has been on her mind for the better part of 10 years.
"I don't want to stop playing this sport after high school," she said. "All of the other sports, I'd be okay with stopping after high school was over. But, this sport just stuck with me for a really long time and I enjoy it more than the other ones."
Raines played at a camp at Culver-Stockton in Canton, Missouri last summer. She says it was really then that she felt like the Wildcats were a fit for her.
Raines still has her senior season ahead of her this spring, and hopes to leave her mark on a program that's had some of its best years during her time at LeBlond.
"LeBlond has always been really family based with the soccer team," Raines said. "There were a lot of second place finishes and being close to winning districts. My sophomore year we got it done and it was a really good feeling and I just wasn't ready to stop there."
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