Sydnee Eck led the Andale/Garden Plains Indians to three state titles, and this year she did so with a record of 17-0 while striking out 203 batters in 103.3 innings pitched.
Eck also hit .474 with 14 homeruns, but after a successful high school career, Eck has decided not to play at the collegiate level.
“A couple schools called me,” said Eck. “But it just wasn’t a fit for me.”
Instead, Eck will attend Kansas State in the fall and begin studying biology.
“I’ve gone up to K-State and enrolled, and I went back up there and fell in love with it all over again,” said Eck. “I’ve just had a great career, and I’m ready for it to be over. I just feel like I’d be better off and a little happier there.”
Eck plans to become a physician’s assistant, but Kansas State does not offer the master’s program she must participate in once she finishes her undergraduate degree.
The decision to move to Manhattan weighed more on the relationships she has already made with the faculty.
“I’ve gotten personal letters from the Dean of Students and the Athletic Director up there,” said Eck. “Just having that personal connection and them being that interested in me to keep up with me and everything that I do just makes K-State seem that much better to me.”
Eck said she truly fell in love with the general atmosphere of the campus, and the pathway it extends between Andale and where her sister lives in Omaha.
“My sister is going to have a baby in August when school starts,” said Eck. “I want to be somewhat closer to her so I can go up there and visit her a lot.”
Eck’s future plans are to work under an orthopedic surgeon to help with sports injuries.
