Ella Bulava is known for her skills and speed whether she's on the pitch or running on the track.

A two-sport athlete at Greater Latrobe, Bulava was also quick to make a decision on where she wanted to attend college and continue her soccer career. After receiving an offer from the University of Maryland, she made a swift decision and committed to the Terps program in June.

“I fell in love with the school, the campus is beautiful and I love how there are so many majors to choose from,” Bulava explained. “And on the soccer side of things, the program is fantastic. But ultimately the thing that led me to my decision were the coaches. There is a new staff and they are looking to rebuild the program, and they want to win."

Soccer has been a part of Bulava’s life since she was just two years old. Despite trying other sports growing up like dancing, she always found herself gravitating back to the pitch.

“I tried a bunch of different sports, but I would always go back to soccer,” she said. “I joined this small club team called Foot Hills and that’s where I started playing with a lot of people who are on my high school team, which is really nice to play with them now.”

The chemistry Bulava and her teammates established at an early age paid off tremendously last fall. The Wildcats secured their first section title in 29 years in a 3-0 shutout of Hempfield Area.

“We’ve formed so much chemistry because we’ve all played for so long,” she noted of her team’s chemistry. “It almost feels natural, when I pass it to someone else my teammates will know where I’m going next. I think that helped us a lot in winning the section last year.”

The success Bulava has experienced while being a student-athlete at Latrobe has not been limited to just the soccer field, but also the classroom. An excellent student, Bulava has been able to balance both school and soccer despite the rigorous demands of her schedule.

However, that success hasn’t come without some sacrifice from Bulava.

“It’s definitely hard, I study a lot in the car because my club soccer is an hour away,” Bulava said of her balance between school and sports. “There’s a lot of late nights for sure. I try not to waste any time and study when I can especially during a free period.”

Those late nights have helped prepare Bulava for what’s to come when she arrives at Maryland. But for now, Bulava is focused on enjoying the final two years of her high school career and getting back to competing with her Latrobe teammates on the field.

“I’m excited for the soccer part for sure, we want to win the section again," she said about this season. “But our next goal is to try and make it farther into the WPIAL playoffs and even win the WPIAL championship and go to the state playoffs.”

To watch the entire Recruiting Thursday sit-down interview with Ella, please click on the featured video.

WESTMORELAND RECRUITING NEWS

• Greater Latrobe girls basketball player Emma Blair committed to South Carolina Upstate, a Division I school in Spartansburg. The 6-foot-1 senior forward also had offers from Seton Hill, Shippensburg and Gannon.

• Norwin's Reagan Casper has committed to play soccer at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a Division I school.

• Greensburg Central Catholic senior Carlo Denis is headed to Grove City to play soccer. Denis tallied 29 goals for the Centurions last season.