Mercer Island senior Kiernan Coles recently committed to play Division I lacrosse for Cornell University. A two-sport athlete at Mercer Island playing football and lacrosse, Coles said he had also been looking at St. Joseph’s, Yale, Albany and Delaware.

But when it came to the educational opportunities available at Cornell, committing to the Big Red proved too much to pass up.

“They’re a highly-ranked school, so the education was attractive for me. And after visiting the campus, I felt upstate New York is a great place to be,” Coles said, adding he had encouragement to play college lacrosse from fellow teammate Evan Condon, who will play lacrosse a few hours away at West Point.

As a defenseman for the Islanders last season, Coles picked up 22 ground balls in 11 games, helping the Islanders to a season record of 18-2 and a tie with Bellevue and Issaquah for first place in their division. Coles also coaches Silver Select middle school lacrosse on Mercer Island.

Holding a 3.6 GPA at MIHS, Coles said he plans on studying business or liberal arts in college. He said with plenty of support from his family as well as his coach pushing him to be the best he could be, Coles is looking forward to furthering his education while playing the sport he loves.

“My mom and dad were big supporters of me attending an Ivy League school and sports kind of got me there. I’ve always played sports my whole life, more as a hobby, but now I don’t know what to call it. Having sports help me get to an Ivy League school is a big deal.”