Lucky for Hart, she won’t have to choose one over the other at the next level.

Hart signed her letters of intent to play both volleyball and softball for Alpena Community College on Thursday in front of friends and family at Thunder Bay Junior High School.

“I’m actually really excited because I don’t have to pick a sport that I love the most, I get to do both,” Hart said. “I like how high energy they both are and the energy you get from playing both sports; they’re both super fun to be able to play.”

As a two-year varsity athlete at Rogers City High School, Hart had great success in both sports. In her junior year, she was part of a Rogers City volleyball team that made the Class D semifinals. In both seasons, she won district and regional titles as part of the softball team and is fresh off a trip to the Division 4 semifinals with the Hurons.

News Photo by James Andersen Rogers City's Catheryn Hart signs her softball letter of intent with Alpena Community College on Thursday.

“It was really fun being able to make it to the final four in both sports,” Hart said. “It was really something you wanted to try and do each year because it’s an experience you won’t get that much. It was awesome.”

Hart said she learned the value of hard work playing for both programs and both ACC programs will benefit from her skills. She plans to study nursing at ACC, following in the footsteps of her mother and sister.

In volleyball, Hart was a mainstay in Rogers City’s lineup as a middle hitter and will give ACC coach Sarah Parsons some height in the middle of the front row. She got a little bit of experience with ACC’s program earlier this year when she went to a tryout during the winter.

As a senior, she led Rogers City in aces with 72 and added 141 kills and 41 blocks. She went on to earn an all-North Star League honorable mention.

In softball, Hart was Rogers City’s starting third baseman and batted fourth in the Hurons’ lineup. She batted .344 with 21 hits and 22 RBI and had several big moments for the Hurons’ during their run to the semifinal.

News Photo by James Andersen Rogers City's Catheryn Hart signs her volleyball letter of intent with Alpena Community College on Thursday.

She scored the game-winning run during a 1-0 district semifinal win against Johannesburg-Lewiston and was the winning pitcher in a regional semifinal win against St. Ignace.

Defensively, Hart recorded two of the biggest outs of the season. During a district final win against Hillman, Hart made the tag after Hillman’s Brooke Jones overran third base after a triple. In a quarterfinal win 10 days later, Hart made the tag on Rudyard’s Desta McDowell to end the game after McDowell got caught in a rundown.

Hart earned all-region and all-district honors in softball and was a second team all-NSL selection.

Hart’s high school may be over, but now she’ll have the chance to play two of her favorite sports for at least two more seasons, she’ll be able to do it in front of friends and family by staying home.

“I’m excited to be close to home and my friends come visit me and my parents can come whenever we have a home game,” Hart said. “It’s a really good feeling. Knowing that I wasn’t playing my last softball game or my last volleyball game (after high school), that’s hard for me to put it all away.”