Gateway’s Bailey Steele, Hayden Price make college decisions

By: Michael Love
Sunday, December 15, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Bailey Steele has her sights set on qualifying for the PIAA Class 3A diving championships in her final varsity season.

The Gateway senior was 13th at the Class 2A meet last year and missed out on a trip to states. With the Gators moving up as part of the latest two-year realignments cycle, Steele knows that she must finish sixth or better at the WPIAL Class 3A meet to earn a trip to Bucknell.

“I know it’s going to be a harder year for me to get to states, but I am diving almost every day of the week, so I know I will be ready to compete when the time comes,” she said.

However the season plays out — there is much out there for the Gateway third-year diver to accomplish — she is content with where she is headed after she graduates in June.

Steele will continue her academic and diving pursuits at Division II IUP.

She joined fellow Gateway senior Hayden Price — a women’s soccer commit to Division II Cal (Pa.) – in making their decisions final last month during the start of the early signing period for all Division I and II sports except for football.

Steele said she was thankful to sign with IUP the day before Thanksgiving.

“I grew up a gymnast, and I was planning on college for that,” said Steele, who trained in gymnastics at Gymkhana in Plum from ages 2-14.

“Then I went to track, and I finally landed on diving (as a sophomore). I am just so happy that it has worked out so well for me, and all the hard work has led me to where I can continue to compete in college.

“Aside from the physical aspect of flipping and rotating, the mental part of gymnastics translated really well to diving. In diving, there is really no safety net. If you mess up a dive, that is really what happens. Overcoming those fears is similar in diving as they were in gymnastics.”

Steele said she is amazed at how far she’s come in diving from starting as a sophomore to where she is now.

“I didn’t even mean to join diving,” said Steele who, with her Derry Flip and Twist club team, earned a third-place medal on the 1-meter board and a first-place medal on the 3-meter board at an AAU meet in Florida in June.

“I thought my mom said ‘driving’ so I agreed to try it out because I thought it was a driver’s (education) course. She told me she had emailed the coach, and I was a little bit confused. I just kind of showed up to practice and decided to continue with it. It was crazy how I got into it and how much I have progressed into it to where I am now going to do it in college.”

Steele said she is excited for her future at IUP.

“I went to an IUP camp the summer after my sophomore year, and ever since that camp, I’ve been dead set on going there,” said Steele who plans to study music education.

“The team is like a family. The coaches and I just clicked really well. I learn a new dive every time I go there. I couldn’t have asked for a better college situation.”

Price is right at Cal U (Pa.)

Hayden Price first made contact with the Cal program through the Next College Student Athlete recruiting app.

“I am super excited to know I will playing on the Cal U women’s soccer team,” said Price, a hybrid midfielder/forward.

“The team has such a positive overall energy. I went up there for a few games on Saturdays and met with the players. It feels like such a family atmosphere. I can’t wait to go up there and do what I can to contribute to the team.”

Price said signing day was a chance for her to see that all her hard work paid off.

“It felt so good over the years to be able to work towards something like this,” said Price who continues to play on her Allegheny Force club soccer team this winter. “I’ve always had the dream of playing in college.”

Price said it is a bittersweet feeling to have the opportunity to start something new as she will at Cal while also leaving a place where she made so many memories over the past several years.

Price, one of six in this fall’s Gateway girls soccer senior class, scored five goals and added five assists for a Gators’ team which was in contention for a WPIAL Class 3A playoff spot right to the end of the season.

Gateway finished 5-9-1 overall.

“We put a lot of work in during the preseason,” Price said. “The team was just like family. We all worked together really well and tried our hardest. We had some really tough games, especially with Fox Chapel and Mars moving into the section. Everyone put in a lot of effort and worked to keep everyone’s head up and giving 100 percent, no matter what the score was.”

Gateway coach Caleb Kyper said he’s pleased to see Price get the opportunity to show her talents at Cal.

“She’s put in all the hard work for four years and even longer than that. This has to be an incredible feeling,” he said.

“Cal U is getting a seasoned soccer player in Hayden. Given the section we played in the past several years, she’s been playing nonstop against Division I, II and III players. She’s seen the best of the best, and she’s seen success on the field with them as well. She’s also gotten that experience with AFFC where she’s made her mark against some top players.

“She’s played a number of different roles for us at the high school level because of our numbers and who we’ve had on the team. She’s been willing to play a number of different positions, so she has that wide-ranging perspective that will serve her well at Cal.”

While Price is heading to Cal, one of her Gateway senior teammates, Addi Helman, will join the women’s soccer program at Division III Westminster.

Helman, a defensive midfielder, scored four goals for the Gators in the 2024 season. She was recognized for her efforts with selection to the Section 1-3A all-star team.

“She was super motivated for her senior year,” Kyper said.

“She came out of her shell and became laser focused on wanting to play college soccer. She put the work in all summer and came in and took a leadership role on the team. She wanted the best for herself and also her team. She played a huge role as a calming influence in the midfield.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway