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Suzanne Barker, the daughter of Thomas and Sharon Barker, of Bean Station, signed scholarship papers Wednesday afternoon to attend Tennessee Wesleyan University in Athens.

Barker was part of the “50-Goal” club during her four years at the Rutledge school. She said that her strengths are shooting and getting around players through tricks and moves when the Lady Grizzlies played offense.

“The team was very nice and welcoming when I went to tour their school,” she said. “I saw their program, showed me their plan and it looked like a place I wanted to be.

Barker considered other schools, such as Dyersburg State and Pellisippi State community colleges.

“They just weren’t where I wanted to be,” she said. “I really found the place I wanted to be was Tennessee Wesleyan.”

Among Barker’s highlights at GHS were the district tournament her sophomore year when the Lady Grizzlies defeated the Lady Bulldogs.

“We won that first round, but we never got the district championship,” Suzanne said.

Barker said that she is seeking to improve her defensive skills on the pitch. She led the Lady Grizzlies in goals scored this year.

“When playing the field, you do both offense and defense,” she said. “Getting from offense to defense is a struggle for me.”

Barker will major in either surgical technology or sports medicine, but she is leaning toward sports medicine.

Grainger High Head Soccer Coach Mark Wankle came to Grainger High a week before the first game at the very beginning of this school year when the previous coach left, but he had two great building blocks in Barker and Kiersten Pfifer, who recently signed with Johnson University.

“She is a great player,” Wankle said. “She helped me out tremendously. My being new to the team, she provided a lot of the structure they had already set up between her and other veteran players. She was a great leader. She will be missed tremendously.”

The Lady Grizzlies had a good season in spite of the coaching change.

“We did okay, but we could have done better,” he said. “Given the nature of the program towards the end of the previous year, we did better than expected. It was a quick (coaching) transition and they handled it very well, in part because of Suzanne. They helped me out a lot.

“We’re not going to be able to replace her,” he said.