Lakeland High School field hockey star Summer Parker will take her place in the collegiate field, playing for Liberty University.

Parker, a senior who was the leading goal-scorer in the state this past year, was put in a difficult position at the beginning of February when her Division I college destination, Radford University, announced it was discontinuing its field hockey program.

She found out the day before National Signing Day, meaning most schools had already spent most of their money on scholarships for their desired players.

But the first weekend after signing day, she began talking with Liberty, which also has a Division I program. She made her decision to attend and play for the Lynchburg school in early March.

“I have my official visit this weekend, so I’ll go down there and meet with the team,” she said.

She will begin there in the fall on a partial field hockey scholarship.

Parker hopes to hold her signing ceremony sometime this month.

Her Lady Cavaliers teammate, Kasey Smith, who had also committed to play for Radford, has opted to attend there her freshman year on the original scholarship the institution agreed to honor.