Christine Giles

It’s official. Signed, sealed and delivered.

Ida Baker senior Christine Giles is taking her soccer career to NCAA Division I Arkansas State. Giles mailed the scholarship paperwork to the school earlier this week.

She becomes the first Baker female athlete to sign a Division I letter-of-intent.

“After my visit, I thought it was a better fit for me,” said Giles, a four-year letter-winner who led Baker to a 27-1 record this season with a team-high 33 goals, 28 assists and 116 shots on goal.

“The facilities are nice, top of the line, and they take care of the athletes,” she said. “They have a good biology department and came highly recommended. I also met with the head of the department. They are there to help get you into med school somewhere.”

Alabama-Huntsville was her original choice, but had second thoughts when the coach resigned to become head coach at Arkansas State. Coach Tafadzwa Ziyenge left Huntsville one week before professor Amy Bishop opened fire on fellow professors, killing three and wounding three others at a faculty meeting.

“The shooting affected me because it happened in my department (biology), my proposed major,” said Giles.

Just after the shooting, and before her visit to Arkansas, Giles said “the shooting could happen at any university, or any time or place because there are people in the world that are like that.”

Her decision was affected in another way, too. Huntsville is Division II, but she preferred to go to a D-I school. Ziyenge’s resignation and subsequent move to Arkansas State helped make that desire become a reality.