In signing their national letters-of-intent Tuesday, two Washington seniors will be continuing their athletic pursuits at the collegiate level with close friends and teammates.

Kelli Klaus next year will join the basketball program at Colorado Christian University with former Warrior Ashley Piper, now a freshman at the 1,000-student liberal arts college.

And all-state swimmer Morgan Barnes will be attending the University of South Dakota along with Ian Ford, who inked his scholarship offer with the 6,000-student state school last week.

Klaus said she actually became interested in Colorado Christian first, then urged Piper to take a look at it.

Both girls attended Cedar Valley Christian School together before joining the Washington basketball program.

“I visited Colorado Christian on the way back from a family vacation in Arizona before my freshman year in high school,” Klaus said.  “I knew I wanted to go to a small, private Christian school. And I just fell in love with the atmosphere there and how welcome I felt.”

She was only a part-time starter on the Wash sophomore team and played sparingly last year on the varsity, totaling 17 points and 19 rebounds in 17 games.  But Warrior Coach Frank Howell said that at 6-foot-1, she has yet to come near her full potential on the court.

“She’s twice the player she was a year ago because of her work ethic and positive attitude," Howell said. "She has her best basketball ahead of her.

“This will really be only her third year in organized play, so she has a great upside.”

Klaus said she was recruited as much for her leadership skills as her stat sheet.

“But I’ve been working hard on my game.," she said. "I get up and down the floor a lot better. I’m not afraid to shoot.”

She says, though, that her priority in college will be on academics. Her high school transcript is filled with advanced placement courses, and her lowest grade has been an A-minus in math.

Barnes, too, is a straight-A student who is even taking a class this year at Coe College. He plans to major in actuarial science at South Dakota.

“I wanted to swim at a Division I school,” he said. “And they have a real strong math and business program there. So it was a good combination.”

Since recently moving up from Division II competition, South Dakota has been upgrading its swimming facilities and recruiting, Barnes noted.

Like his older brother Nathan before him, he’s had a stellar career at Washington by qualifying for the state meet from the time he was a freshman.

He finished sixth in the 500 yard free style and eighth in the 200 free as a sophomore, then came in third in the 500 and second in the 200 last year.

Coach Chris Cruise said he will be in contention for state titles in both events in the upcoming season.

“Last year Morgan became one of the elite distance swimmers in the state," Cruise said. "And he’s a real leader with his commitment and positive attitude.”