Seated in front with Carleigh Parker (center) are her father, Robert Parker, and her mother Casey Parker. In back, from left, are Triton principal Ryan McNeill, Triton athletics director Wendy Simmons and Triton soccer coach Brian Foster. (Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)

Triton senior Carleigh Parker, of Dunn, signed on Friday to play college soccer at Barton College in Wilson.

The upcoming season will mark Parker’s fourth as a member of Triton’s varsity girls soccer team. She plays at the midfield position for the Hawks. In addition to soccer, she ran one year of varsity track her freshman year.

Parker said she knew Barton was the right choice for her when she visited the campus.

“It felt like home,” Parker said. “I stepped on campus and was like, ‘Yeah, this is it.'”

Among the reasons Parker said she liked the school was the smaller class sizes and the ability to have one-on-one time with her professors. She also liked the opportunities she would have as a senior for internships.

Parker said she plans to major in sports management with a minor in health education.

Parker said there was a small bit of concern when the coaching staff that originally recruited her at Barton left at the end of last season, but that she had met with first-year head coach Peter Mais and his staff and thought they were “awesome.”

Parker said what drew her to the Bulldogs was the team’s family atmosphere and how close the players are to one another.

Parker said a standout memory for her of her time playing soccer for Triton was the first goal she scored as a freshman and the relief from the amount of pressure she felt it took off of her.