August 29, 2003

     It was quite a summer for Laura Menty of Wilbraham.
     The senior at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham made a verbal commitment to college, was named an AAU All-American and led her AAU team to a third place finish at the national championships.
     Menty, a 6-foot-1 forward, has chosen Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. She has accepted a full athletic scholarship.
     "It was the perfect fit for me," Menty said. "It has a great basketball program, academically it's what I wanted and I liked the smaller school."
     Menty had also given serious consideration to Boston University, Georgetown and University of New Hampshire.
     "I really wanted to sign early," Menty said of a signing period that begins Nov.1. "The stress is off now."
     Siena went 25-8 last season and its schedule has ranked 40th nationally in power rankings during the last three years.
     Menty and high school teammate Mikara Cimmino led the Connecticut Starters Under 17 team to a third place finish at the national championships in Orlando, Fla. AAU teammate and Suffield Academy standout Brianne Edwards played on her state record seventh state championship team.
     "I was just excited by how well the team did, it was the best finish by (an AAU team from) Connecticut ever," said Menty, who averaged 17 points during the 10 games. "I wasn't thinking about being an All-American. The team did great and that's what I was thinking about."
     At Minnechaug, Menty averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Falcons to the Western Massachusetts Division I tournament title and a trip to the state finals. Menty has 1,005 career points in three seasons.
     Menty will not play for Minnechaug's girls soccer team this fall. Menty was a second-team Sunday Republican All-Scholastic choice, but decided to concentrate on her preparation for basketball.
     "It was a very hard decision," Menty said. "Siena left that (decision) to me, so I could have played soccer. But I broke my wrist and missed the first part of basketball season last year and I wouldn't want to miss any of my senior year."